The same jolt of pain hit him as well, although he was ready for it, and thus bore it with only a faint grimace that quickly smoothed away. The Ring hummed against his chest with its dark energy, warm even though the cloth of his shirt, as if with a thrum of anticipation. Yes. It has been too long.

"Then perhaps you should be less easy to hurt," he answered, even as he summoned a second creature to the space between them: Dark Resonator. While weaker than Abaki was, it had a its own special effect: it could avoid destruction once per turn, and since Valdis was the only one attacking... she would find it considerably more difficult to get rid of, as it would instantly regenerate.

"But no. Hurting you is incidental. I'm just here to make sure you know you cannot get away with what you tried yesterday."