'This emptiness I am feeling right now... What's it, Mask?' Tobey hesitantly asked, feeling a bitter taste spreading in his mouth.
[That's what happens when you lose a piece of your Soul Mirror, when it cracks or get thoroughly broken, and so on. You know, for stronger paladins or demons, it is very rare to have their Soul Mirror broken. It only happens when they are really overdoing it and when their enemy is incredibly strong. Anyway, you are fighting someone stronger than you in all aspects except wits and certain skills, so it is only natural that your Soul Mirror won't bear it, even more when you don't know how to use it properly.
[This emptiness you are feeling is because, being the mirror of your soul, this dagger represents it both metaphorically and literally. It is the physical form and energy form of your soul in all aspects. If you lose a piece of it or let it get harmed, you will feel the same as having a piece of your soul taken away from you.
[Fortunately for you, bastard, it will recover as time passes. Anyway, having it get broken in the middle of a fight is bad news.]
Tobey bit his lips as he looked at that paladin in front of him. He was getting worried, so worried that his heart raced painfully inside his chest as if it was about to jump out at any moment.
'What will I do if it breaks?'
[Nothing. You will die.]
'That's not really motivating.'
[I know, man. I am trying to find a way to motivate you here, but even I myself am getting nervous about this situation. I never got so nervous before except by that time when you were kind of made hostage by that strong paladin back when you left that hotel on our very first day together.]
Tobey frowned hard, getting confused about Mask's reactions. He found it quite strange.
'I am in a life or death situation here, you know? Why aren't you just as much concerned as before?'
[That's a good question and, here is the thing: although you are an unfortunate bastard, you do have some blessings that came with you since the day you were born. Not all the demons can summon their Soul Mirror on their very first try, Tobey. I remember very well that other kids and teenagers back when we were small tried really hard and couldn't do it. It is something that needs time and training, but you did it easily.
[In resume, you have got talent, and that's why I believe that you won't die right now. You just need to concentrate and unleash all your power... or leave it to me...]
Tobey gulped once hearing those words.
'Why did you wait for so long to finally tell me that you could take the lead?'
[I thought that it was obvious! Being your alter ego, I also have my own share of control in this body!]
'And... what will you do, Mask?'
[I will do what needs to be done in order to save us. After all, you seem to be still hesitating in killing people, right? All that talk about pulling the trigger was very inspiring, but it was just all talk. You can't stop yourself to remember the first time you killed someone in your life, right? That's why it's so difficult to end this paladin's life.]
'I killed a Paladin already, I am not frightened!'
[Stop lying to yourself! That day was totally different, and out of the various paladins you needed to deal with, that was the only one you killed. Also, you just did it by accident because you weren't expecting to pull this powerful dagger out of nowhere!]
Tobey gritted his teeth while looking at the paladin in front of him. Right now, he needed to admit that he wasn't sure whether he would be able to kill him or not. If anything, he would need to sacrifice a lot of time and blood to be able to do it; and even so, there was the possibility that he would lose enough time not to escape from the reinforcements that were about to come.
The detective got mesmerized for some seconds while looking at that sword in the hands of the paladin. It seemed to shine brighter as he approached Tobey with careful and short steps.
[You need to choose right now, Tobey! Will you trust me or back away like a coward? Do you want to survive or die!?] Mask shouted, invading his mind with the image of his face.
Tobey felt an itch in his head and a lingering feeling. It was quite strange, but he knew exactly why it appeared.
'All this time... when you made all those mistakes while trying to protect me or helping me. All the mockery, the flaws, the apparent lack of information... Everything was just so you would make me get to this point, right? I have been paying attention to how you acted all these days. You can't deceive me.'
[So what?] Mask said in a grim voice.
[Do you really have the time to think about it, Tobey!?]
Just as he shouted it, the paladin charged toward Tobey, slashing with his sword at an even higher speed than before. As Tobey dodged those attacks by inches, he felt like that aura wrapping around the blade was burning his skin and making him uncomfortable; he couldn't even imagine how much it would hurt if some of those blows actually hit him.
At some point, Tobey couldn't avoid but use his dagger to defend one of the slashes. This time, he could parry his sword with more proficiency. However, it still caused his dagger to lose yet another fragment.
Tobey gritted his teeth as he felt a wave of discomfort crossing his body, then a sensation of emptiness paralyzing it for a moment. The paladin didn't stop this time, though. He stepped forward with all his might, rotating his hips and swinging his blade upwards diagonally.
Tobey wasn't able to dodge nor defend now. He was wide open, so the blade traveled like a lightning bolt across the air, reaching his trunk and slashing him diagonally, leaving a deep cut there.
The slash was so strong that it broke one of his ribs. Thankfully, it didn't harm his internal organs, he could jump backward while getting hit so that the cut wouldn't be that deep.
The impact was enough to send Tobey flying some meters away, then falling on the ground and yet rolling some meters more before stopping.
Right after, the detective felt the new wound in his trunk burning as if someone threw melting lava inside it. He grunted soundly in pain, nearly passing out due to that torturing feeling. He knew that the harm he took from that sword would be greater due to the Divine Energy embedded in it, but not that it would be so bad.
'Keep awake! No matter how much it hurts, keep awake, Tobey!' he thought as he pressed his hand against the spot where he had a broken rib, it was also the part where the cut was deeper.
'What's your intentions at all?' he asked Mask as he got up, struggling to keep his feet steady.
[I just want to keep us alive.]
'How can I believe that? After all this scheme you made just to get control at a crucial time, how can you expect me to trust in you?'
[... And do you have any other choice? I mean, with this wound, even I would have a hard time against these guys. Also, what did you expect? I am your alter ego for a reason, Tobey. I have different ways of acting and reacting to the various situations you need to go through. As I said before, I am not here to be useful to you.]
Tobey barely had the time to get up before the paladin followed suit and tried to finish him off. He leaped to the side with all his might in response, dodging the powerful slash aimed at him. The former's sword got stuck into the ground, which showed just how frightening was the strength behind that slash.
[Tobey!]
'I... I don't...'
[Choose! Now!]
'I...!'
[NOW!!]
The paladin finally could get his sword out of the ground. He clicked his tongue for such idiocy. He still wasn't very proficient when wielding such high power as Divine Energy. He couldn't exaggerate and end up killing himself there.
'Thankfully, the wound I left on him was enough to make him quite disoriented. I know that it hurt a lot for demons to receive such slashes from enhanced weapons.'
He turned to look at Tobey and finish that battle once and for all, though he came across a different view...
'Just... What happened to his eyes?'
Tobey's eyes in his demonic form were the same as they were before. It was still just a pitch-black iris outlined with a strong red color, the line wasn't too thick, but enough to be noticeable from far away.
Nonetheless, there was something different there definitely. Maybe his expression, maybe the way he stared at the paladin, maybe the cruel gleam inside his eyes... However, the traces of humanity that once were inside them disappeared.
[It's good to finally get the wheel. Welcome to me!] Tobey (Mask) said, giving a creepy smile at the paladin.
(A/N: Mask's dialogues will still be between [], so you won't get confused every time they switch. I will make sure to describe whether he is thinking or talking out loud.)