The phantom flickered with static like an old television.
As Constantine spoke with Tita and launched a ferocious assault, he kept an eye on the figure in the dark green cloak, its chest adorned with a golden sash. Under Constantine's guidance, the other Praetorian Guards noticed it as well, proving that the phantom was not a hallucination. More than half of a shattered body fell away, jagged ends of yellowed ribs protruding from it. Then the remains turned into black sand, before becoming dust and air beneath Catherine's radiance, as they should have been.
"This is strange. We cannot rule out another trick by an Aether psychic entity, or the effects of Aether Energy upon the Material Universe," Constantine said over the Sacred Guard's encrypted communications. As super-soldiers who had undergone extensive genetic modification, they could easily adapt to this unnatural, unsettling space. Under the influence of Aether Energy, the angles of the buildings here seemed to exceed the geometric laws of the Material Universe. A downward slope might lead upward; what felt like the right side could actually be behind them. Visual deceptions were everywhere, utterly without pattern. Even Mortal Soldiers trained by the Sacred Guard for logistical work would stumble for no reason under such conditions.
"Stay alert. Do not let your guard down just because it has taken the Regent's form."
"That is the Regent. There is no need to doubt it." Catherine suddenly spoke, surprising the Praetorian Guards. Unless she was facing the Emperor himself, Catherine was still sparing with words even around the Praetorian Guard. Every sentence she spoke was vital intelligence, including the location of the portal. "The Regent has accepted the Emperor's order to help us close the portal."
The Praetorian Commander was skeptical.
Had he not witnessed the Emperor create, separate, or