The draconic hands restraining Ephraim suddenly vanished.
'Thorwyn, you ungrateful little—!' Sol's furious thoughts echoed through their shared mind as he tried to seize control of their body once more. But this time, something was different.
'No! They need us!' Thorwyn stood firm, bracing his will as he resisted Sol's attempts to suppress him. Unlike before when he was caught off guard by Sol's sudden shift and was locked away, he stood firm and wasn't pushed back.
The Void Lord stared at Solwyn, confused by his sudden release and even more so by their frozen posture. Their eyes twitched, body trembling faintly, as if caught between two opposing forces.
'Should I attack…? No!' Ephraim thought. Though he had no way of knowing what internal conflict was happening, his instincts screamed at him not to strike. He felt that if he did it would snap Solwyn out of whatever was occurring and he would promptly end his life. He didn't need more reason than that.
Without a second thought, Ephraim flickered away, vanishing into the void. He didn't even consider staying in this area which was under his domain. So long as Solwyn was here, it was not safe. Instead, he fled toward the domain of a fellow Void Lord, because at least if Solwyn chased him all the way there they could put up more of a fight.
Meanwhile, within their mind, Sol roared.
'He's getting away, you mutt!' Sol howled in rage as he hurled his will at Thorwyn, trying to shove him aside and resume control of their body.
But Thorwyn didn't yield.
In fact, he was pushing Sol back.
Their shared body trembled as their legs began to move. Slowly, but steadily, and it was against Sol's wishes.
Sol's mental voice cracked with disbelief. 'How is this possible?! How are you resisting my supreme will?!'
There was no verbal answer in their mind, but Solwyn's lips began to move.
A strained voice escaped through clenched teeth.
"Because... the real you... wouldn't want this!"
And with that declaration, their body surged forward. In a flash, they flickered out of sight.
When they reappeared, they were floating above the dimensional room, now barely visible beneath the writhing horde of voidlings attacking its barrier. Amber and Reena were somewhere inside, nearly buried beneath a black mass of tendrils and claws.
'For such a stupid reason, you stopped me from proving my superiority?!' Sol's voice was furious. 'This is the real me! I'm better than I've ever been!'
Thorwyn could feel Sol's mind crashing against his harder than before, but no matter how he raged, he managed to maintain control.
Lightning surged from their hands. Arcs of blinding power chained from one voidling to the next, electrocuting dozens in a single strike.
Inside the room that was full of black veins and on the verge of being destroyed, Reena had all but given up hope… until a radiant flash of lightning illuminated and dispersed the dark swarm above.
Her eyes widened. "You're back!"
Reena had honestly begun to lose hope that they would return. Not only from the voidlings trying to break the dimensional wall, but from the timer showed they had a little over a minute left.
Amber, who had been waiting for their return rather patiently, narrowed her gaze when she laid her eyes on them. She saw something was off with Solwyn's tense expression.
"…Thorwyn?" She asked, just loud enough to be heard.
Solwyn nodded quickly. "I don't know how long I can hold Sol back, so we have to go now!"
"Wait Thorwyn? Hold Sol back?" Reena asked, out of the loop.
Without delay, Thorwyn summoned his psychic energy. The psychic energy wrapped around the cube shaped room. Then, with a flash, he flickered again, vanishing with the dimensional room in tow.
In the blink of an eye, the three suddenly appeared next to a massive wall that gently glowed, the dimensional membrane. The wall stretched endlessly, farther than what their eyes could see, but when compared to the vastness of the void it was simply one small grain of sand in a never ending beach.
From that wall they could see the end of the line that was attached to the cube confirming they were at the right place.
Thorwyn was awed by the sight but didn't have the luxury to admire it as he could feel Sol gathering the strength to wrestle the control away from him.
'Do you think this will end well for you?! Once I take back control of this body I will separate us immediately, leaving you to be consumed by the void!'
"Shut up! Sol would never say that!" Solwyn yelled out as he moved the dimensional room against the dimensional membrane. He turned to Reena and urgently asked, "Hurry! Open a way back!"
Though she wasn't sure what was going on, she could tell that he was acting much more differently than before. She could tell it was related to the fact they fused but shelved that thought away for now as she did as he said.
Running up against the wall she placed her hands against it and tried to operate her spell once more.
The room rumbled as a black portal slowly spun itself into existence.
"Finally! I'm out of here!"
With the portal formed, Reena immediately jumped through it.
Amber was about to follow, but stopped.
She turned, her eyes widening.
Solwyn was suddenly choking himself, one hand gripping his throat while the other clawed desperately to pry it off. Sol had managed to wrestle control over one of the arms and so now it was no longer just a mental battle but a physical one.
Their eyes met Amber's. In them was panic, but also urgency.
"Go!" Solwyn shouted, his voice hoarse. "Get out of here!"
Amber hesitated. She knew she couldn't do much here, but leaving them behind didn't sit right with her.
She saw the forced smile twitch onto Solwyn's face.
"Don't worry… I'll be right behind you!"
She looked at them for a moment longer, but eventually nodded, then turned and ran through the portal.
Now only Solwyn remained in the void.
Thorwyn's voice rang inside their shared mind. 'It's time to go home.'
But Sol snarled back. 'I'm not going anywhere! I will hunt that Void Lord down if it's the last thing I do!'
'We don't have time for that!' Thorwyn growled. He turned their head slightly, glancing at the system timer.
[0:40]
Sol roared. 'I don't care! I would rather die than let someone tarnish my pride!'
Thorwyn let out a mental groan. 'Then too bad!'
Their arm, now under Thorwyn's control, lit with blinding energy. With a shout, he punched through the dimensional room's wall, shattering it effortlessly.
Without hesitation, their body barreled into the open portal, disappearing just as the portal closed in on itself.