I began backing away, slipping through each of the pronounced pillars established on the plain by me and peaking out of them, hurling fireballs at his slippery shadow, yet to no avail as his body comfortably bypassed them. The limited space on the mountain we had had now been seeded with obstructions in our way, limiting our direct view heavily and resulting in forlorn attempts.

“You know, for the things you say, your battle etiquette is quite tasteless, mister Ashburn.” He complained, slowing down to a stroll as his head rotated and examined the area. “I’m done with your pitiful hiding.”

I knew what was coming next and instinctively ducked, cradling on the floor and protecting the back of my head. In an instant, the conjured earth pillars were severed at their base, ascending into the air and being shortly after blown away by the tremendous velocity of the hurling zephyr following it. With a single swipe of his sword, he had managed to eradicate the obstacles I set before him.

I slowly got back up as I faced his snickering face.

“You react well, almost as if you knew I’d do that.”

“Perhaps.” I dismissed his theory and began jumping atop the remaining bases from my spell giving me a slight elevation above him.

“Give up.” His tongue curled in a devilish manner, his eyes directly following the approach of my blade thrusting towards his chest. He calmly gathered his two fingers before my blade and grasped it, suspending me mid air alongside the weapon I continued grasping. I then swung from the hilt of my blade, flipping in the air and gaining momentum to convert into my straightened foot gravitating towards his face.

He rapidly clasped his two fingers and shattered the blade of my sword, before snatching the damaged hilt of my sword and sliding under my kick, catching my foot and reversing the momentum by spinning and slamming me into the ground.

“Gah!” Blood spurted from my mouth, a crater formed where I laid and he casually stabbed me with the blunt edge of the destroyed sword he recovered.

I made no noise, and simply grit my teeth, the wound around my leg wasn’t deep enough nor serious to pose me harm. He was only trying to discourage me.

Though he stated he would teach me not to make assumptions on the people you just met, not to speak out of turn, he isn't’ trying to kill me nor put me in a serious state. I knew it. I can still manipulate his emotions. It seems the stem I had been told about still remains, meaning if I grasp this, it’s one step closer to revenge.

“Are you really against the idea of helping me? Using your strength once more? Maybe the belief you once felt was betrayed, eradicated and false, but rebuild your foundation with me. Or were there deaths really in vain?”

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His onyx eyes barked crazily, shaking at the child snickering below his foot. “AGHHHHHHHHH!!” His cry of agony echoed, shivers rising on my skin.

In that decisive moment, I pushed at his foot, momentarily pushing him backwards and slipping away from my undefended position on the ground. The remaining bit of the sword still stuck in my leg eventually fell out, exposing my wound to the unprecedented temperature of the atmosphere. I bit down on my lip in pain, crimson leaking from their dried skin.

“That’s it, roar out in pain! You are worthless!” I further taunted him, withdrawing the katana stored in my dimensional storage and tossing my bag aside. His anger seemed to infect his calm thinking, carelessly charging forward at high speeds, his sword at his side, ready to annihilate me into pieces.

“Let’s see this. It’s been a while, Sword of Time. It’s time for improvisation.” I mumbled to the sword, sliding my two fingers across from the tip of the blade towards the hilt. The blade faded from its mulberry pigment into the ravishing emerald, the hue of it leaking in a great apparition. “Sword of Time, Second release: Precognition.”

My view gradually fell into a grayscale portrait, only reflecting different colours in a sort of clingy mist protruding from the mana’s change. His whole body was essentially numb of colour, meaning during this whole fight, he had not accessed the mana in his crux to flow through his body. He had only used the occasional spell and his tempering body arts. He was more of a beast than I thought originally.

I focused more on the view of the deranged beast wildly pursuing me, a verdant whisper slithering from my eyes like a burning flame. Slowly a lighter, almost translucent image began manifesting before me, roughly five seconds ahead of time. It was a brilliant mirror of him, but one that reflected the future rather than the present.

I grit my teeth in pain and held my chest. “The drawbacks from this are going to be heavy, but it’s necessary to quell a beast of your level.”

His sword would slowly swing voraciously, drawing closer with its magnetic force to my chest. Fortunately, with this release, I could see it. I expertly dropped my centre of gravity, gliding below his ponderous swing which sent ripples through the wind. I continued my approach swinging my right leg at his pivoting one, sweeping with all the might generated into my one leg. He would just about see through it with his predatory instinct, but I also saw what would happen. This ability gave me everything, all I had to do was adapt my thinking process.

He lept into the air as I had already seen and I had naturally responded spinning on the ground and lifting my right leg to go in for the following strike.

“You motherfucker!” He erupted in rage, leering at me as he was forced to intercept my blow and take himself back a few steps.

“You think getting angry will bring them back! You think just because you left your past means it doesn’t exist!? Don’t be a fucking idiot! Face it and overcome it! You might have the title of the strongest, but you are no doubt the weakest one here!” That’s not true. I know you are better than me, Lloyd. Prove it to me. Show me…people like us can change and start again!

He already stopped replying. Eerie silence was the only thing that existed between us. He grabbed his neck and an uncomfortable penetrating noise emptied out. His fists tightly balled into a fist, before an insurmountable out of mana began pouring from his sole being. A beacon of spiralling mana branched out into the cloudy sky, his hair unrestrainedly flowing around his face.

I could only sit on and gaze, as I, a mere man…faced God himself.

My heart still drummed in my chest and the pain became insufferable. I would only be able to continue for a few further moments.

“Their deaths. What do you know about them? What do you know about what happened to them? What do you know about that day? What do you know happened to me that day?” I was about to speak up but a frigid touch silenced me. The premonition of death was the only thing I could think of. The reaper directly held his scythe at my neck, ready to bring it down upon me.

“Do you know that what we supposed heroes fight for, isn’t justice. What we the soldiers, the adventures fight for. It isn’t justice. Because justice doesn’t exist. We do this for the money, for the hope of protecting our lives and the people dearest to ours. But desperate attempts of mere mortals like us, always ends up in disappointment. I fought for something that wasn’t there. I fought for the hope that I can create it! I fought for the hopes of creating a better world for the people I care about! I fought to protect. But what is power if you can’t even do that? Fighting back, revolting against the world and its punishments, is futile. We are all destined to be tied down. Destined to fight desperately against our uselessness and our mistakes, regrets and our remaining solitude. Our greatest companion into death is our solitude.”