As though submerged into the abysmal depths of the nigh bottomless Irenic ocean, the castle hall was thrown into a frenzied state as a mountain of pressure loomed heavily in the atmosphere.
The mood quickly turned sour, the ground giving off a slight rumble under Astravan's terrifying aura, and the stone slates beneath his feet lying dessicated with cracks from the broken castle wall where the collision occurred, before stretching a few meters away from the furious Trickster.
"Wha…t, wha..t are you doing Sir Astravan?" The figure whose neck laid tightly in the aggressive clutch of Astravan managed to mutter, his voice shaking under the pressure exerted agasinst his neck.
The man's face then creased to take a saddened look, a gentle stream of tears welling up in his eyes before escaping them to travel down his cheeks.
"Why are you…"
"SHUT UP!—" Astravan belligerently interrupted him mid sentence, his face construed to form a derisive scowl as his threatening aura swelled viciously.
"VOID BEAST!" Astravan's words echoed across the fortress, gifting the room with a curious silence as the man's eyes glistened with a baffling look…
One of pure Bewilderment.
The man laid motionlessly in Astravan's grasp, his face remaining still for a moment as the tears which formerly flowed from his eyes were cut short.
Like a serpent that crouched hidden within a blanket of grass, only to be uncovered and have its cynical plans dashed out along with its head…
A wicked smile spread across the face of the man, whose neck was firmly held by Astravan.
"The chief was right." A low mutter escaped from his lips, the voice with which he spoke being noticeably different from his former vocal nature.
"You really are gonna be a pain!" The brown gleam his eyes were dyed in slowly started to wane, fading into obscurity to become replaced by a depraved scarlet red glow.
Yet the void beast still maintained the form of the Artifact hunter Nicolas, the only differences lying in his eyes which gleamed with a diabolical red glint, his voice which overhauled to have a melancholic ring to it, and—
His twisted smirk that accurately reflected the inner workings of his dark twisted mind.
'Well, since my mimic plan was a flop, I might as well get the hell outta here.'
'After all…' The void beast lifted his eyes to stare at Astravan, whose eyes remained bathed with a cold terrifying look.
'There's no way I can go against this guy, his aura's just too strong!' He wondered in shock at the horrifying strength of Astravan, feeling the sheer pressure of the showman's aura nearly crush him.
He had to act soon, at least, that's if he wanted to live.
WHOOSH
Having the similitudes of a hazy mist, the Void beast released his suppressed Void essence, casting his dark red aura around him and swirling it like a rapid vortex to overpower Astravan's grip.
BOOM!
But his plans were quickly aborted. In a spark of purple radiance, Astravan's energy swirled violently around them, suppressing the void beast's sinister essence and crashing him even deeper within the same wall he formerly stayed tightly lodged within.
Astravan's face remained emotionless, even as his clutch was gradually shattering the void beast's neck, his face still persisted in its cold and distant look as he spoke.
"I thought I told you to shut up?"
"Are void beasts so dull or are you just especially daft?" Astravan brought his face closer to the void beast's, the beast slowly squirming under his tight grip.
"Cause if I wanted you to talk, I wouldn't be clenching so tightly onto your neck now would I?"
Astravan then let out a sigh, reflecting his grave annoyance before continuing.
"But given that you're so talkative, tell me…" Astravan's eyes gleamed with a dark glow once more, his oppressive aura resting heavily on the unlucky void beast.
"Where Nicolas is!" Astravan's voice thundered through the hall, as both Trick and Athan watched expectantly, the incoming turn of events.
The Void beast sluggishly raised his arm, pointing it towards his neck that was currently grasped tightly under the Trickster's powerful grip.
Realizing the beast couldn't talk under his aggressive clutch, Astravan then reduced the strain on the Void beast's neck while still clenching onto it, but releasing his grip just enough to let the creature get his words out.
"…"
"…"
There was a momentary silence as the Void beast remained unmoving, his head lowered in silence as he maintained a stationary state, one similar to that of a dead body?
And just then…
The beast's lips stretched, etching to form a mocking grin across his face as he screamed out three scornful words at the top of his lungs.
"GO SHIT YOURSELF!" The beast gave out a laudable chuckle, lifting his head to reveal his ugly malevolent smile spreading from one end of the temples of his head to the other.
His loud derisive laughs echoed across the castle, as the beast met Astravan's cold gaze with his own dauntless grin of unbridled pleasure.
But boldness adopted different forms…
However, the Void beast's mocking act of fearlessness did not reflect a great deal of courage, as it did for his stupidity.
CRUNCH!!!!
The sickening sound of bone breaking apart under indomitable pressure spread across the air, cutting the beast's precipitous laughs short.
Astravan had mercilessly broken the Void beast's neck.
His eyes grew colder watching his pure white gloves dyed red from the beast's crushed neck, eliciting large volumes of blood to come bursting out the beast's mouth.
However, even as he stared at all this, not even a mistaken feeling of pity came through the Trickster's mind, his face just assumed the same look.
A look devoid of any and every emotion.
Trick tensed, watching the terrifying demeanor his master currently wore, he was taken aback by his Master's intimidating presence, shocked by his ruthlessness and befuddled by the cold emotionless darkness, his master's eyes reflected.
Only one thing came to mind as Trick saw the void beast's head sag behind his shattered neck…
'So Master can look this terrifying?' Trick asked within the innards of his mind, turning to face Athan who watched the bloody scene with an excited smile pasted across his face—
The ominous rabbit meeting Trick with an elated nod of affirmation for the punishment Astravan was currently instilling into the Void beast.
"Regenerate quickly, Void beast." Astravan commanded unsparingly, lifting up the beast and ramming him against another end of the wall, violently.
'This guy!' The creature wondered in thought, spreading a scarlet aura around his fractured neck which bubbled rapidly, his neck twisting to its natural position as bone joined to bone, healing his before shattered neck, to make it as good as new.
"I'll give you one last chance…" Astravan's grip against the creature's jacket tightened, leaving the beast to remain elevated, his body rammed against the castle's inner walls.
"Tell me where Nicolas is!"