Tibaut had been knocked out as soon as he hit the wall. His blood had decorated the wall but the real damage was inside him. It would be a miracle if he managed to stay alive for a minute longer.

Albus finished his coughing fit and couldn't help but stare at the man before him. With his current appearance, there would be no question whether he was a prince or a princess. His body mass had almost doubled, though it wasn't as egregious as Cormac's physique.

He had broken out into a sweat of his own, even if only a few drops were on his forehead.

("Shit, he made me go this far.") He looked at his hands and couldn't help but cringe realising what he had in store for him when he stopped his magic.

("Tsk, if I stop it now I'll be in so much pain, I probably won't be able to think straight for the next few days. But if I wait until my magic runs out I'll only have maybe two minutes to stay like this. I'll have to deal with the pain after two minutes anyway, so it doesn't make sense stalling… but I just can't bring myself to do it. Well first order of business, I should go meet Avis in the time I have remaining.")

Deciding it was best to finish this up, he began walking over to Tibaut and, like a miracle, he opened his eyes as he heard Albus coming towards him.

"Come on man, just die already," Albus stated as he walked towards him. He sounded defeated.

Tibaut's mind saw the danger in front of him and shot off another fireball. He seemed to be straining himself as he shouted in pain. The fireball he shot towards Albus felt like it really did embody the term 'fireball'. It was the size of a ball a small child would play with and its speed seemed laughable. Only out of respect for his fallen opponent did he let such an attack hit him. He shrugged his shoulders and sighed before getting closer to him.

Complex thoughts were a distant memory to Tibaut while he was stuck in the wall. He didn't feel fear as Albus approached but anger. His body boiled at the fact he had been treated this, turned into a wall mount ornament by him. The unfair magic that made him almost invincible. It pissed him off. He couldn't accept this defeat. He wouldn't expect that his story would end here of all places. His blood gurgled in his throat as he tried to move himself out of the wall.

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To Albus, this just looked like the death throes of a defeated man. It felt oddly reassuring seeing him act like this. He had finally realised there was no fighting back and that death was his only option.

He stared at Albus with hatred in his eyes and Albus accepted it wholeheartedly. Even he realised he deserved as much.

("I've changed my mind. I'll use my remaining time to watch him die. He deserves as much to have someone in his final moments.")

He did this as a sort of punishment. That no matter what happened only his maids would have his back and friends outside of them were impossible.

As he watched he noticed an odd aura around Tibaut as he struggled in the wall. It was blue and he wondered if this was a new magic but… it was too odd. It was almost like a flame in its appearance. And a large one at that. It started to light that part of the room blue. But it had no heat. He felt conflicted seeing and wasn't sure how to proceed. Was it a technique he activated upon death or was this something more?

As he wondered, he noticed the broken arm of Tibaut snapping itself back into one straight piece and the finger-deficient arm slowly growing them back, first forming bone then flesh.

Albus didn't know what he was seeing but he knew it wasn't anything good. He rushed towards Tibaut and aimed for his head. His fist landed with nothing. He managed to dodge the fist at such close range. He pushed himself out of the wall and stared Albus in his face. His eyes seemed lifeless. It was as though he was staring at something beyond Albus as he looked at him.

Albus had been left stunned at his punch missing.

("That's impossible, my body is at its physical limit in this state. How did he dodge it so easily?")

Tibaut got into a stance with his blue flame-like aura surrounding him. He moved his fist as if to say "Come on already."

He sent another blow to the face of Tibaut. The redhead grabbed Albus's hair and the sudden jolt caused him to miss.

He immediately backed away and used his hand to cut the hair Tibaut had grabbed onto. He then shortened his hair with his magic before feeling confident enough to step back in.

("Why did he do that? Wait a minute, why am I so worried? He had the perfect opportunity to hit me yet he went for my hair. This means he probably can't hurt me even with that aura of his. Wait, shit was this his plan after all? Did he get like this so he could make me drain my magic? No, only Avis has seen this form before today and it was very brief. This is the first time I'm using it in a fight. But dammit this has just turned into a matter of who can maintain themselves for longer.")

He maintained hope that Tibaut's form was as situational as his and threw himself towards his opponent. Tibaut wasted no time dodging the blows coming his way and for further annoyance he kept touching Albus's fists.

("Are you saying I'm not fast enough you bastard!?")

On the fly, Albus had thought of a way to increase his odds.

He started pumping adrenaline throughout his body.