He quickly ran back to Ash, his desperation present with every step he took.

His aura flared up, with a bright blue aura instead of the pale blue hue he wore earlier.

But it seemed this might not have been a good thing.

(“Oh, you're really going all out now, you have about thirty seconds left before you start eating into your body.”)

Tibaut reacted to his sentence and his eyes went directly onto the body of Ash, completely ignoring the flames chasing behind him.

He couldn't even comprehend how he'd defeat Ash in those five minutes, much less thirty goddammit seconds!

(“How am I supposed to kill him, he's a tricky bastard with all sorts of tricks left up his sleeve, and why the hell did I get this stupid horse shit anyway, who the hell discovered a power that can kil…. Ash Bentley.)

It seemed the stress of the situation caused Tibaut to regress from a man to a beast. He completely ridded himself of his thoughts and focused on a single objective. Killing Ash.

Ash quickly removed his flames as Tibaut approached and formed three into his hand. He blocked a kick from Tibaut and the force of it sent him three buildings back.

“A final gambit, eh!? Bring it on lad, your sloppy attempt isn't going to-”

His ribs were broken. He noticed it after he caught his breath. He took another punch to his face that set him flying backwards. He quickly formed the flames around his hand into a glove and kept two other flames behind to follow him. Although they burnt his hand, it'd be a while before they caused any serious damage and with Tibaut in the state he was, he didn't imagine he'd have to bear it long.

He blocked with the flaming fist and left Tibaut’s fist charred. It broke his hand and he took another blow from Tibaut, this time a kick into a punch from the gauntlet. He placed both of the flames on Tibaut’s gauntlet, melting it in mere moments. He flicked his hand forward splashing the face of Ash with liquid metal and something odd.

It was Tibaut’s hand. It had been reduced to an exterior of charcoal and an interior of almost gooey and soft cooked flesh. The flames still stuck to the hand, slowly turning it to charcoal but Ash had higher concerns.

Tibaut smashed his face again with his charred nub that used to carry a hand and got him on the floor. Ash tried his best to fight him off with the hand of flame and sword. The sword was stopped with Tibaut’s arms, leaving a massive gash and showing the bone of an upper arm and a forearm, using both bones to block it. It was apparent ki reinforced his body and likewise, he intuited his bones were stronger as well.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

He grabbed his sword and threw it aside.

Ash brought his other hand to the side of Tibaut and dug into his side, managing to burn a sizable hole in him revealing his abdominal cavity. Before he could push his hand any further and burn any of the multitude of internal organs shown to him, Tibaut slammed his hand down and pinned his arm to the ground with his foot. He quickly released the flames from his hand and placed them on Tibaut’s leg. They attached to a metal plate he wore and the flames stuck to the liquid as it poured onto the ground.

Tibaut slammed his face one more and stomped on his arm, before hitting him with another punch. Ash's eyes were glazed over and he stopped moving.

Tibaut tried to hit another punch but his aura completely disappeared when it connected with Ash’s face. Tibaut fell onto him, drained in both mind and spirit. And rolled off him.

He took several deep breaths as tried to regain his breath and looked at the unconscious Ash. He dragged himself back towards him, confirming the man was unconscious and placed a hand on his neck. As he contemplated what to do, Ash's eyes opened and he attempted to move until he felt a heat forming at his throat.

“Move and I'll kill you,” Tibaut stated.

The priest's body limped on the floor and he looked up to Tibaut.

“Sparing me?”

“It's better than losing my other hand.” He stated as he gripped Ash's neck tighter. He was trying to choke him, but the divine powder combined with his current strength left that laughable. All the muscle he had worked to build back was gone and he was now in an even more dire state than he had ever been in. He felt like his stomach was going to start digesting itself and he hadn't drank water in days.

In truth, he was barely keeping himself awake and if he fell asleep now, he might never wake up.

(“Wh-what the hell?”) He thought to himself as he noticed how miserable his body was feeling. He looked at Ash's arms he had stomped on and quickly brought his head towards it.

It was broken with a few wounds created on it. It oozed dark red blood and Tibaut couldn't help himself when he saw it.

He was reminded of a certain experience in his travels.

----------------------------------------

Several years ago, he journeyed to a volcano range and hadn't thought much about getting water. "No big deal," he thought, he'd likely clear it in a day...

By the third day he travelled across it, there wasn't a single source he found and he knew if he backtracked he wouldn't find a source of water in time. But there were animals around, deer-like creatures that feasted on certain minerals in the area. He had heard survivors in the desert killing bats and drinking their blood to survive. With his mind in turmoil, he killed one with a fireball and confirmed it had blood. He ripped open its throat with his fingernails, as the thirst clawed at his mind and drank some of its blood. He soon followed the other ones to a nearby spring he missed.

----------------------------------------

Which made it quite a shame for Ash.

After all, there wasn't any water nearby.