Irtop's reaction speed had actually been incredible, the sneak attack had been launched nearly the instant the door had begun to open, any other soldiers, and even most elites wouldn't have even realised something was happening until a sword would have gone right through their head.
"Oh? What do we have here? A wandering soul? An apparition? A shade summoned by those up above? I can't quite tell for sure… But a ghostly being such as yourself, with traces of life yet in his semi-corporeal body… That is simply not right, I will not allow for an absurdity like you to exist" Irtop pulled his blade out of its sheath, the sword's steel reflecting the small amount of light in the area as he took a simple combat posture.
Both him and the spirit actually wielded similar swords, they looked alike enough to deem them the exact same type of weapon, in fact.
"Rich coming from a living serving the foul dead-" the sword clashed, sparks flying through the air as the soldier in white blocked and deflected the blow, pushing the fighting spirit a few steps.
He did allow his eyes to leave his opponent, but responded nonetheless.
"No worries, Ayelah, just lock the room from the inside, this intruder is surely trying to get a glimpse of what is going on within"
"...Very well, make sure not to lose" the elven girl spoke, and soon enough, the reinforced door was shut, Irtop's enemy visibly troubled that his plans had been thwarted, all because his attack speed was not sufficient to slay the enemy in a single, swift strike.
'This man is skilled, he seems more familiar with his weapon than the other soldiers… A real swordsman' Ilmael could recognise the skill just from their brief clash just now, Irtop clearly possessed some natural affinity for the blade, the intent was almost palpable in the air.
His wish to cut down the intruder was refined, forcefully forged and hardened by being taught how to kill by undeads, the ultimate slayers.
Irtop stepped forward, thrusting his sword forth, grinding against the spirit's translucent weapon, despite the difference between the two beings, one of flesh and blood, one of naught but the fighting spirit of a fallen warrior, they clashed as though both existed fully in the same realm of being.
Without realising it, Irtop exchanged sword strikes with one who had bared his weapon toward Loimos himself, and their fight took them further and further away from the monitoring room, Irtop's style of combat was ruthlessly aggressive, they said that the best defence was a good offence, and he exemplified it perfectly, there was no balance in the way he attempted to destroy the spirit, it was naught but a pure, unstopping barrage of attacks, forcing his opponent to be on the defensive, Irtop had countless openings, but none was could be seized without running the risk of enduring a devastating counter attack.
Such a mindless assault was not fitting for one who still had their life to preserve, the only livings that might indulge in such madness were berserkers and the likes, who lost much of their reason when caught in the throes of combat.
Irtop was most composed however, his strikes were without end, forming a barrage of merciless steel, but were perfectly calculated, each brought out with intent to either end the fight, or open an occasion to finish it.
Ilmael deflected another strike, managing to sneak in a kick before stepping back, his opponent barely staggering back before already throwing himself forward again, channeling the mana that pulsated throughout his translucent body, Ilmael sent a most simple slash of mana at his opponent, most mages would laugh at such a simple spell being casted so awkwardly, but whilst the magical portion was severely lacking, he made up for it by using the strength of his arms to launch the attack, granting it much greater velocity than if he had simple casted it.
Irtop ceased his charge, and stomped on foot onto the ground, lowering himself and meeting the slash of mana with his own sword, dispelling the spell and absorbing the foreign mana into it, swiftly launching the spell back a thrust aimed at the spirit's stomach.
The death hunter rolled out of the way in haste, the spell striking the wall without leaving as much as a scratch, the mana simply vanishing entirely as it could do nothing to penetrate the resilient material.
Ilmael glanced back, seeing the wide figure of a brute blocking his way, somehow, he had not heard any alarm, but the alert had already been given, and more invaders were converging on his location, like they simply knew exactly where he was.
'Sorry, Commandant, I spoiled this golden opportunity' the spirit knew very well that his chances of actually discovering anything were basically null now.
'It's not your fault, you did the best you could' Antieeld probably should have called for a spirit that was stronger, but strength wasn't exactly what she had deemed most necessary, having chosen someone that was both competent in combat, but also proficient at sneaking around, as the foremost objective had been to gather information on how they operated, to be able to better predict their next actions amongst other things.
It didn't matter if who she called upon could slaughter the invaders, it was obvious that the sensitive areas would be boxed in that nigh indestructible alloy, pure power could not overcome it, and as such, they would never be able to actually catch sight of the hidden secrets.
'I shall try to take some of them out, however' Ilmael was not willing to just shrug and give up however, even as a spirit that had nothing to lose, it did not sit right with him to allow for an easy victory from an adversary, especially one that was at the service of the vile dead.
He looked at his surroundings, currently standing in a hallway of pure whiteness, Irtop in front of him, multiple other soldiers behind.
The invaders were not planning on allowing him to face them one-by-one, so trying to take out Irtop, probably the strongest around, seemed like a poor idea, so the death hunter turned right around and rushed the other way, a brute wielding a great axe moving forward to intercept him.
'If I play my cards right, I might just be able to force my way through there…'
"What's this? Are our ways to detect intruders subject to failure? I thought no one entered after that breach earlier… Did the gold mess with more things that we originally thought?" he stopped dead in his tracks, the soldiers parting ways as the owner of the cutesy voice that had just rang out stepped forward.
"Just my rotten luck, there are child soldiers as well…"