The Infernals, yes. They have been fighting the Council since it's creation. You return to the Stream and begin moving towards the Infernal realm.
Mid-way there, you notice a strange thing; another unusual being in the Stream, though this one seems different, like a hundred dots of light instead of one, solid beacon. Another strange thing is that it seems to be closing in on you, though you don't really see the point. Even if it is working for the Council, it won't be able to do anything but to follow you around until you exit into a new realm.
You shrug inside your mind and continue hovering towards your destination. You hope they're not too angry about you not agreeing to work with them, but you're sure you c-
The creature crashes into you, and you feel a sensation like falling over, even though physical bodies do not exist in the Stream. You find yourself being dragged somewhere, somehow, and before you can do anything, you are thrown out of the Stream.
You open your eyes to see ice-covered land, very much filling your view. Pain shoots out up your spine as you crash on the ice, and you find yourself sliding down the landscape.
' Oh, I am going to enjoy this.' a voice says from all around you. There is a strange background noise to it, like screaming.
You force yourself up and look around.
A dozen metres from you stands a giant, humanoid figure, with reddish, infected-looking skin and no face or other details of the body to speak of. A black metal grate juts out from just below where a head would be, with white light coming from within like flames in a furnace.
' Remember me, fool? I once told you I would be your doom.' the voice speaks again, and the light shines a little bit brighter for a moment.
Zanael. You weren't expecting to meet him again. Without answering, you take your claymore and rush forward towards the thing. The voice snorts, and the creature's arms... shift, revealing a set of blades in the other and a strange, ornate firearm of some kind in the other. You manage a few steps towards the being before the firearm wakes up with a whirr.
Razor-sharp shards of some pure-white substance are propelled towards you at incredible speed. Three dig into your stomach and legs and two others go straight through, but, fortunately, Zanael mostly misses. Strangely, you don't feel that much pain from the hits, only slowing down in your advance.
' Like this body? I was gifted with it by the Ophenim themselves, after what I did at the... well, it is a great honour. These are called Soul Engines. The strenght and willpower of nearly a hundred souls, all united to be the perfect weapon.' Zanael boasts. You use the chance he's given you and sink the claymore deep into the Engine's left leg.
At the exact same moment, the skin of the Soul Engine shifts again, suddenly pushing countless mouths to the surface, all screaming. The force of the sound physically pushes you to the ground.
Zanael roars in pain, and, before you can get back up, sends you flying with a well-placed kick. You land heavily back on the icy ground.
This is bad. You take a quick look around. Some distance to the north-east is what seems to be an ice-covered lake and beyond it, mountains, but everywhere else, the snow-covered landscape seems to stretch on forever.
You're not sure how tough this thing is, but perhaps you could return and outrun him in the Stream, exiting somewhere he wouldn't dare to follow you into.
In any case, you need to think up a plan fast!