The first chain struck fast.
Ben raised an appendage just in time.
A wall of dark aether erupted in front of him.
The chain slammed into it, sparks flying, but the impact still sent him skidding back through the air.
The knight leapt to his side and cut two chains mid-flight.
"Is Apophis betraying us?!" he shouted.
"I don't know!" Ben yelled back, his voice ragged. "But I'm going to find out!"
Another chain whipped forward.
Ben blinked aside, then retaliated.
He launched a burst of gravity spikes that shredded one link, only for two more to take its place.
"Told you not to believe those daemons," the knight growled. "See now?"
Ben grit his teeth. "And so what?
No risk, no reward."
His gaze shot toward the horizon, toward the Empyrean crystal.
It still glowed faintly where Apophis had disappeared.
Ben closed his eyes for a second.
He focused inward and pushed his soul forward, into the link that connected him and Apophis.
