The ethereal skull manifested from Alvin Ward's dark energy technique loomed before me, its hollow eye sockets fixated on my position. Each time it struck, I felt my qi draining away, as if the very essence of my life force was being siphoned from my body.
"What is this?" I gasped, dodging another attack that nonetheless grazed my shoulder, sending a wave of coldness through my arm.
The skull, translucent and wreathed in swirling darkness, made a horrible keening sound that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once. I tried striking it with a qi-infused punch, but my fist passed through the apparition like it was smoke. Yet when it attacked me, the pain was devastatingly real.
"You can't fight it physically," Ward sneered, his hands moving in complex patterns that controlled the skull's movements. "The Devouring Phantom Skull is an ancient technique passed down through generations. It doesn't just attack your body—it consumes your life essence!"
