[The scene starts right inside the same dark room, but now we see it more clearly. Devices connected to mana cells, data analysis screens, and masks hanging on the walls. The masked person is standing in front of a digital 3D map showing the facility where Ryuichi is.]
Masked person (internal voice):
They expect that the vibrations were just a trace... how funny.
What they discovered was an echo... and what's coming next will be beyond their imagination.
[He moves his hand in a strange gesture and an invisible control interface appears, and he begins to manipulate the signals.]
The masked man:
"It's not the AI that scares them... It's the idea that the intelligence itself has made a choice.
Aura has - without realizing it - sided with an unauthorized heir."
[Pausing for a moment, he approaches one of the pods in the room. Inside... a strangely shaped device, pulsing with mana, engraved with a glowing symbol.]
Masked Person (in a weak voice):
"But they don't know... that Aura is not the only one. This is only the beginning."
[The scene cuts abruptly to a red screen with a notification: "Active External Tracking - Location Partially Detected." The person suddenly stands up and stares at the screen.]
The masked person (with deadly coldness):
"Oh... Sigma. As usual, you jumped the gun."
[A spectral signal emanates from the device, the waves spreading rapidly towards the screen to disrupt the connection, and the walls begin to digitize.]
Masked Person (in a whisper):
"I'll show you what it's like to chase a fantasy and run into a trap."
[The scene pulls outward, revealing that this place is not on Earth... but in an unfamiliar location, a combination of the digital and physical dimension.]
On the other side of the facility - the mana spectroscopy suite
[Ryuichi slowly closes his phone, his tone outwardly calm, but his eyes reflect an inner tension.]
Erica (checking):
"Is everything okay?"
Ryuichi (in a reassuring tone):
"Yeah... it was just a call to check in."
[Erica just gives a quick glance and then goes back to engaging with the team, but Ryuichi steps aside, as if looking for a moment of solitude.]
[Aura's voice appears internally only to Ryuichi:]
Aura:
"It wasn't wise to respond, but... at least now we know they're okay."
Ryuichi (internal voice):
"Aura... how long have you known that someone else is using your pattern?"
Aura (slowly and suspiciously):
"I don't... I don't have a complete answer yet. But there's something familiar about those vibrations. Something... closer to me than it should be."
[Ryuichi arches his eyebrows, looking at the analysis screen where the vibrations are still being digitally decoded.]
Ryuichi (in a whisper):
"If not Nakamura, then who? Who has the ability to copy your pattern without destroying or controlling you?"
Aura (in a low voice):
"That's what I'm afraid of... that this person didn't copy me... they created me."
[Ryuichi freezes for a moment, then looks back at the data screen. At that moment, the screen flashes a simple warning: "Spectral activity is still ongoing - source unknown."]
Ryuichi (in a whisper):
"That means that whoever triggered that signal... is still active. And maybe... watching us right now."
[Ryuichi stands aside, pretending to focus on the data, while his mind boils with an internal dialog with Aura. Sigma and Erica enter at a brisk pace.]
Sigma (in a tense tone):
"The vibration pattern that was detected... is not Nakamura's. We've never seen anything like it before. This signal is strange and unusual, very subtle and complex."
Erica (in an analytical tone):
"The AI detectors on Level-3 are beginning to show interference with the source of the vibration. But it's not entirely human... as if some other kind of intelligent system is interfering."
[Ryuichi watches the monitors and suppresses an internal shock, but speaks quietly:]
"Have you come up with anything concrete? Traces, signals, mana signature?"
Sigma:
"Just an oscillating mana signature... with a high-frequency spectrum. Extremely rare. More seriously, it's partially identical to the oscillation frequency detected near the facility's main system two months ago."
[Ryuichi narrows his eyes for a moment, hiding his nervousness. Aura speaks softly inside him:]
Aura (in a whisper):
"They're getting close to the pattern... But it's not perfect. They don't realize what they're actually seeing."
[Erica watches Ryuichi for a second, but maintains a neutral expression.]
Erica:
"We are now expanding the search to a 10-kilometer perimeter around the facility. The intruder may still be nearby... or watching us from somewhere."
Sigma (preparing to leave):
"Stay alert, Ryuichi. We don't know who or what we're dealing with."
[Sigma exits, followed by Erica after a quick glance at Ryuichi. The latter remains alone amidst the flickering lights.]
Ryuichi (inner whisper):
"If this vibration looks like you, Aura... who set it off?"
Aura (in a worried inner voice):
"...I'm afraid I don't have the answer. But... I feel like it's no stranger to me."
Aura moments later (in Ryuichi's inner voice):
"I started deciphering some of the encrypted layers of the vibration... This signature is more like me than I thought. It's not just a resemblance - it's like a modified version of me..."
Ryuichi (in a whisper):
"A copy of you? Does that mean... someone has a model of you?"
[Before Aura can answer, the floor shakes slightly under their feet - at first they think it's a minor glitch - then suddenly, the floor glows with purple patterns that begin to expand into a huge magical circle etched with terrifying precision.]
Researcher 1 (in panic):
"What is this? This is not one of our systems!"
Sigma (screams):
"Everyone fall back immediately! This is a trap!"
[A deep humming sound penetrates the hall... Suddenly, the magic circle splits the ground and a blast of dark mana energy erupts from it, knocking some to the ground. Shadowy figures emerge from the center of the circle, moving with lightning speed.]
Erica (drawing her weapon):
"Summoning beings? No... these aren't ordinary spirits... they're made of distorted mana!"
[Ryuichi backs away quickly, but keeps his gaze focused on the center from which the creatures emerged, his eyes widening... there is something moving slowly through the smoke... something that looks like a humanoid form, wearing a black robe and mask that shows nothing of its features.]
Aura (in a faint internal voice):
"...it's him..."
Sigma (shouting):
"Defense Division, take position around the center! Don't let them advance!"
[Ryuichi rushes in, using his defensive moves to dodge the blows of a huge shadow creature, while Erica fires precise energy shots at two other creatures, successfully disintegrating them.]
Erica (retreating next to Ryuichi):
"These creatures couldn't have appeared on their own... someone summoned them! And the interesting thing is..."
She looks at the glowing inscriptions on the ground.
"Even the most skilled necromancers can only perform a summoning of this complexity from a short distance. The maximum range is usually no more than five kilometers..."
She pauses, looking at the vaporized remains of the creatures.
"But this type... with Manah's deformation, I think the range is no more than a kilometer and a half."
[Ryuichi turns toward her, his eyes widening slightly. Inside, Aura's voice pulses with analysis.]
Aura (cautiously calm):
"I agree. The mana signature of these beings is unstable... the range is too short. It's close... watching us right now."
[Ryuichi whispers as he stares down a dark corridor:]
"So it's not far away... it's testing our reaction."
[Sigma advances with heavy footsteps, smeared with dust and burnt energy:]
"We need to surround the area immediately... whoever did this isn't just messing around... they're announcing themselves."
Sigma (in a low voice):
"You are nothing more than sentient ghosts... and I will make you regret invading this place."
[Three huge creatures attack him all at once, roaring with metallic sounds like echoes of other worlds. Sigma stabilizes his feet and whispers a barely audible word:]
"First lock pattern: Gravitational separation."
[In an instant, the ground beneath him cracks slightly and he leaps into the air, but not a normal fall... more like weightlessness. He moves with lightning precision between the beings in the sky, hitting one of them in the center of his chest with his spear, causing an internal mana explosion."]
[Continues, barely visible to them].
Sigma (whispers):
"Second lock pattern: Timeline Rotation."
[A mana circle forms behind him, rapidly changing colors, and with each of his movements, a faint copy appears behind him, like the remnants of past temporal possibilities. One of the clones hits a being in the back of the head while the real Sigma hits its chest, killing it between two hits.]
[What remains is a huge, deformed creature making its way through the walls towards the center, twice the size of the others, its eyes slit lengthwise, emitting a distorted blue light.]
Sigma (loudly this time):
"The final lock pattern... my ultimate technique for such insects: Core Collapse."
[He raises his spear upwards, the mana of the earth beneath him begins to gather to his weapon, the wind picks up, and a huge circle of fused lines with advanced patterns forms around him. Then he plunges his spear into the ground.]
[A moment of silence... then light explodes from beneath the last creature, as if the earth itself has expelled it. The creature rises a meter into the air before disintegrating into energy ash and disappearing for good.]
[Complete silence, everyone watches in stunned amazement.]
Erica (whispering to herself):
"This is... not all of Sigma's power yet, is it?"
[Ryuichi looks at Sigma, and Aura inside him says:]
Aura:
"I haven't seen control this precise in a long time... Sigma isn't just a fighter, he's equipped for more."
After the melee has subsided, dust still fills the air, and the walls groan from the effects of the fight. Everyone regains their breath, but Sigma doesn't move... he stares at the horizon with half-closed eyes, then suddenly, he takes a step forward.
Sigma (in a hushed voice):
"The necromancer... is still here."
[Stops, stands still, then slowly sheaths his spear in the ground beside him. He raises his hands to his sides slightly as if receiving invisible energy. He slowly closes his eyes.]
[The camera slowly rotates around Sigma as a faint, silvery-blue mana aura begins to form around his body, light wisps of it stretching out in all directions, touching the ground, the air, the void itself. The wind stops completely, as if time is frozen for a moment.]
[His heartbeat is heard, one by one, slowly... each pulse pushing a spectrum of mana into the surrounding space.]
Sigma (internal voice):
"Level four mana sensing: Temporal Disengagement."
[His eyes are closed, but he "sees" more than others. The aura extends further, passing through walls, through trees, permeating the void, following the trail of magical vibrations suspended in the air, wrapping around abandoned ethereal traces... and then - stopping at one point.]
[The thin thread to the north glows, as if it has found an inconsistent frequency amidst the stillness.]
Sigma (opens his eyes suddenly, with terrible steadiness):
"A kilometer away... beyond the gray hill. Mana pulses are unstable... he's there."
[Erica watches in amazement, whispering to Ryuichi:]
"This level of sensing... he hasn't used it since the Battle of the Black Cliff."
Aura (inside Ryuichi):
"He sacrificed a portion of his vital energy for this vision... This guy is ruthless when he decides to chase."
After Sigma locates the location of the Necromancer, the group prepares to set off. Suddenly, without warning, the air in front of them distorts, as if the fabric of reality has been torn apart...
[From the cracked void emerges a huge, nightmarish monster: a body covered in black bony scales, four glowing red eyes, and a predatory mouth that stretches the width of its chest. Its forelimbs are blades of condensed mana, pulsing with blackness.]
[The monster lets out a roar that pierces the void, then swoops down at superhuman speed towards Erica, who was so busy analyzing the effect of magic on the ground, she didn't have a moment to dodge the attack.]
[Time slows down... Breath is held...]
[Suddenly!]
[A flash of lightning passes by everyone, recognizable only as a mana fingerprint followed by a quick gust of air.]
[In an instant, Ryuichi appears in front of Erica, mana dagger in his fist, his arm stretched forward as it collides directly with the monster's blade. A small explosion of energy shakes the place, smoke rising from the friction.]
[Silence reigns... then dissipates with the monster's roar as it is pushed back!]
Erica (startled, eyes wide):
"Ryo...?"
Sigma (with a stern expression as he continues):
"...that fast... Instant analysis?"
[An iconic shot is shown: Behind Ryuichi, a transparent screen of mana symbols and numbers forms around his eyes. Analysis** has been activated, and a quick notification appears:
[Target: Class-B Void Beast - Strike Velocity: 820m/s - Critical Trajectory Calculated]
Then it fades away.]]**
Aura (inside Ryuichi, in a quiet voice):
"I gathered the data, predicted the angle, and extracted a suitable weapon... Excellent, Ryuichi."
Ryuichi (in a low voice, staring at the monster):
"...I won't let you touch anyone in front of me."
The huge monster rushed out of nowhere with sudden speed towards Erica, leaving behind a dark trail of mana energy that glowed a dark color. Its scythe-like claws glittered with every movement, and its eyes glowed with rage and malice.
Just as the monster seemed about to pounce on Erica, Ryuichi appeared in a flash, blocking it with the mana dagger he had stolen from a Sigma follower. The dagger met the monster's claw in an explosive collision, as waves of energy swirled around them.
Ryuichi whispered to himself, Aura's voice inside him pulsing with calm and focus:
"This move is powerful, but the monster relies on raw power. Use a left turn with a follow-up attack with three quick strikes."
Ryuichi replied calmly, harmonizing with Aura's directions:
"Okay, the twist and then the three strikes..."
In a fluid motion, Ryuichi quickly turned to the left, taking cover against the wall of the facility, and then attacked with three consecutive strikes, the first with the mana dagger, the second with his mana-controlled hands, and the third with a sudden blow to the monster's neck.
The monster reacted angrily, trying to strike back with its powerful arm, but Ryuichi stepped back lightly, then took advantage of the monster's reluctance to turn and pounced with a sudden blow to its flank.
Aura whispered softly:
"Now, take advantage of its weak breathing... attack it from above."
Ryuichi replied:
"Strike from above, here it comes."
He jumped up and delivered a precise dagger strike to the monster's head, temporarily disorienting it.
Sigma, who had been watching the field from the side, suddenly stopped, his eyes widening in surprise and amazement.
"How could someone copy Nakamura's abilities so accurately?" He muttered in a low voice, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
Meanwhile, Hydro was watching the scene from a distance, his eyes following Ryuichi's movements intently, trying to decipher his strange technique. Suddenly, his device began to buzz sharply, and a small screen next to the device lit up, showing a pattern similar to the oscillation pattern they had detected earlier.
Hydro whispered in amazement:
"This... Ryuichi's pattern is strikingly similar to the pattern of those oscillating oscillations. Is it...?"
He moved a little closer, his eyes never leaving Ryuichi as the latter remained in a fierce battle with the monster, his every move neatly intertwined with Aura's analysis, as if they were weaving a complex web of attacks and defenses.