Soul Battle

During such a battle, he can rely only on his own skill and on reflecting the power of the soul he is invading. Defeat in a soul battle results in death, even for Mordret, as seen when he nearly perished attempting to take the body of Sunless (in Chapter 592). Because his own Aspect does not aid him in combat, he must gain a deeper understanding of the enemy's power than the enemy possesses, often in a matter of seconds.^[1]

To win a soul battle, he had to gain a better understanding of the enemy's power than the enemy possessed, often in seconds. The corrupted souls of Nightmare Creatures were even more deadly. He had to be better, smarter, have greater skill, possess a deeper understanding of combat, and break and manipulate his opponent. There was no trick to it. The best way to win a soul battle was to prepare by studying the enemy in advance, to learn the details and intricacies of their Aspect. It was better if he had managed to shake the enemy, making their soul weaker.^[1]

• Mordret cannot possessed Echoes because they did not possess souls, while the Lost could not return to the waking world.^[2]
  • Initially, he could only make living beings into his vessels, but this changed after he became Supreme. Mordret discovered he could maintain control of a vessel even as it was dying, effectively animating a corpse with a shard of his soul, as long as the corpse had not been dead for too long and was not too damaged. Mordret also suspected that possessing a Hollow was within his capabilities, though he chose not to attempt it.^[3]
• During a soul battle, Mordret could only reflect the powers and weapons of the master of the invaded soul.^[1][4] For the defiled and nightmare creatures who don't have Memories, he could only steal their shape.^[4]
• Wearing an Awakened body was challenging as he was not free from being pulled into the Dream Realm every time he slept and it made him vulnerable because his own power as a Master was restrained and an Awakened power was not enough to protect him. Wearing a Master or higher rank body would have been safer.^[5]