The first thing Nereid did when it took flight again was activate its Dark Armor.
That choice was completely different from the Dreamscape version.
In Dreamscape, Nereid had cycled through attacks of all four elements and activated the Safe Sanctuary before using Dark Armor.
But this Nereid had put up its Dark Armor the moment it was injured.
By the logic of a real fight, that was the right choice. If its own elemental attack had hurt it, of course it would armor up and protect itself first!
The Nereid in Dreamscape had stubbornly endured four rounds before activating Dark Armor. That was the rigid behavior.
Sound as its combat logic was, though, activating Dark Armor so early was a devastating blow to ordinary Challengers.
The Sanctuary Platform had not finished charging.
For other Challenger teams, the normal approach was to dodge and maneuver, or let their elemental gems expend themselves, avoiding damage to Nereid through the first four rounds.
Only after the Sanctuary Safehouse activated would they begin fighting in earnest.
There was little room for error, but that was the intended way to clear the challenge.
Unfortunately, Angel and his companions were no ordinary Challengers. With the Elemental Field at their disposal, they could ignore Nereid's Dark Armor entirely.
Over the next few exchanges, Nereid unleashed several mixed-element attacks in succession.
Each one was interrupted in time by their Reverse-Element Shells.
They seemed to have shut down Nereid's attacks, but a new problem emerged... Though they interrupted its casting every time, Nereid showed no sign of elemental backlash.
It was still flying overhead, apparently unharmed.
That, too, differed from the Dreamscape version.
"Could it be that elemental backlash isn't how we kill the real Nereid?" Gray Porcelain's voice came through the Mind Tether.
Angel fell silent for a