Unfortunately, while Draiss is very good in close combat, Verdelet is exceptional; she's delved far deeper into the Cave than he ever managed to, and she'd spent a lot of her own power on physical enhancements. She idly redirects his singularity bomb, moving it further away and disrupting the flanking maneuver he set up, and providing him with the most dangerous close combat foe he's faced since his mirror self, on the 500th level. "You don't have the time to waste on petty tricks and words. Fight me!"