Find your way through.

You hustle along through the winding hallway until it leads into yet another similar room as before. This one is at least a little larger, but it's still as featureless as the last, like a D&D dungeon drawn on grid paper. It has no furniture, no columns, nothing that would show a purpose. Though there is one figure ahead, and it isn't Elok Daven this time... or rather, it somewhat is. Just like the others you saw before, a golden Elok guards the path. He wields a rapier in one hand as a parrying dagger in the other, which of course match his gaudy colour. He stares at you emotionless, and lowers himself immediately into a combat stance.

Walking out from behind him is Elok himself, as if from thin air. "Nae told me if your little borrowed talent. It's no wonder you're able to manage so much at once. You know, we aren't so different. My new body grants me amazing power, and not just of physical strength or magic, but my mind as well, and from what I can see, you're about to have some serious casualties. Avana. Tolis. Castle Phoenix. I'm everywhere, Kyle. Tivera is facing the full strength of what this mind can create. I am the ultimate artificer, don't you understand?"

"You're Breiah's dog," you reply sharply.

"Try and get under my skin if you wish. It's true that Breiah helped me, though most of that was the beginning of my adventure. Now that I'm here at the top, it's all me. It was I who created the **** the Empire faces now. It was I who created this." With a slap of his hand, he attempts to smack the shoulder of the golden replica of himself, though it passes through. "The final version of my ALICE robots. ELIS, Elok Lifelike Intelligence Soldier. Though not as strong as myself, having only four of these will solidify my control of this land. That and the armies that follow. Demons. Monsters. Men and machines. Good luck, Kyle. Be a good boy and put my ELIS to the test. I'll be watching." And with that, he walks behind the construct in question and vanishes from sight.

"Jesus you're a gaudy eyesore," you say to the replica.

It doesn't respond.

"At least that's one improvement. You don't speak--" you say before being cut-off by your opponent's attack.

The ELIS dashes forwards and thrusts his rapier nearly through your body, but you just barely dodge to the side. You attempt a quick counterattack with Lauo, though he nimbly maneuvers out of the way as well, catching your blade briefly with his parrying dagger to knock it away. He then thrusts again to take advantage of this, and your eyes widen as you feel the cold pain of the strike connecting below your shoulder. Blood sprays the otherwise pristine white tiles of the wall, but you can't let the strike distract you. You leap to the side and ready your own attack.

Elok is right. I can't access Invisible Ties here, at least not with more than Peony, and that's a huge disadvantage compared to how it usually is.

"Entangle," you whisper as you tap your foot on the ground a moment before disengaging back even farther.

You throw your blade forwards the second you see him step on the trap. As blue tendrils grab his leg, you shout, "Flare Bolt!" to send a burning magical missile from the tip of Lauo straight into your foe. It crackles through the air, but the ELIS manages to dodge beneath--flames still singing the back of his head. It may look like his body is made of gold, but that isn't the case. It still has the physiology of something like an ALICE. It may be fast and strong, but it's not invulnerable. Elok said it himself, that they aren't as strong as he is. You just need to focus.

When the ELIS lowers himself to dodged, the blue tendrils take advantage of this and tug him lower. You dash forwards to make an attack, though as you get close, you hear the tendrils tearing. He uses his parrying dagger to cut through, and thrusts his rapier forwards. You, however, anticipated something like that. You leap from the ground, but not in an ordinary fashion. Space warps around you as you Bunny Hop to the ceiling, and then thrust down from above. You use the power of your mighty legs as well as gravity to strike down like a meteor from the sky. As you fall, you call out, "Flare Blade!" and Lauo is engulfed in burning fire instantly.

Finally, the ELIS makes a noise. It screams out a pained grown as you staple his leg to the ground with a burning hot poker.

He whips around in an attempt to strike you away, but you dodge and back up into the corner of the room. He then stumbles to his feet--leg smoking. You're both wounded now, but that was a devastating blow, not just a glance over skin.

You then tap on your armour, but you don't speak. You focus your mind. Despite her being right there, you scry on her, and therefore see yourself. But you use this to speak into Peony's mind and say, "Get ready to attack."