Based on the fact he was the only person around, he was likely the one who said it.

“What a quintessential display of humanity. Having the willingness to do anything to survive the next day. No wonder you've been alive for this long.” They stated. They had a deep voice and wore a suit of armour. It was an armour as deep black as a bottomless abyss, yet had a gloss that wouldn't be out of place on a sports car. It was a sleek armour that made him look like a futuristic robot rather than a person. The sabatons' ends and his gauntlets' fingers were honed like claws.

His helmet completely covered his face, with a strange red glowing material covering where his eyes were supposed to be. The top of his helmet had a small protruding part. From it came something that looked like black hair that was tied into a ponytail, going to his hips. Whether this was a decorative part of his helmet or his actual hair could not be ascertained.

He had a sword by his hip that was currently sheathed. The sheath and handle of the blade looked clean, though some blood could be seen staining one of his hands.

He stood calmly, observing the two with his arms held together. And given what the two put themselves through, both of them couldn't help but feel unnerved.

“You're that Bentley man aren't you?”

He asked as he turned to Ash.

He looked confused before he continued. “You worked with Daniel before getting into some conflict with him, correct? I'd heard one of my men say he was experimenting with certain resources but I must say, I didn't think this would be the result of it. You were given something by him weren't you?”

It seemed that his words had snapped Ash out of his fear and he immediately got to his feet. He forced something out of his throat, with his face now pooling in sweat.

He tried to say something but his voice wouldn't cooperate. But even then, Tibaut knew. Because he had the same idea.

This man was dangerous. For the time being, let's work together and take him out.

Tibaut created a fireball in his hand and aimed it at the man. He scoffed at it. “And you, the young child of the Agirow family, I'm surprised to see you've made a home in this nation. I always assumed you starved to death in some forest.”

Tibaut’s eyes widened at his words and he immediately responded. “You know who I am? W-who the hell are you?” He tiredly asked.

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

“I suppose you left before you saw my presence so it isn't too surprising you don't know who I am. Let me put it this way… you're father and mother put far too much of a struggle. They've left me with innumerable scars that I have to hide with this armour. Though you can surmise what happened given I'm the one standing before you and not them.”

Tibaut bit down on his teeth, cracking a few in his mouth as he took in all his features and burned them directly into his skull. He clenched his fist to the point he drew his blood and tears formed in his eyes. His body was weak but he didn't care. He ran towards him and threw a fireball at him. He had to kill this fucker.

“YOU BASTARD!!!!”

He shouted at the top of his voice. He screamed with such force it left his throat a bloody mess.

The man in the black armour swatted the fireball and it disappeared like it was a mere afterthought.

Tibaut stood in front of him and threw another one at his feet.

The man kicked it and tripped Tibaut’s legs in one motion. Tibaut fell to the floor and grabbed his leg, desperately trying to form his magic against it. The heat started to build but the man showed no reaction.

The armoured man flicked him off his foot. After doing so, he felt a heat on his back and swatted at it. It was Ash's flame. He kept his flame close but made sure it didn't touch to ensure they didn't disperse.

Within less than a moment he closed the distance between them and planted a fist in his torso. Ash fell limp into his arms and he threw him over his shoulders.

“Make no mistake, I was simply observing the boy.” He calmly told the unconscious Ash.

He stepped to the side and a fireball impacted the back of his helmet. If he didn't move the fireball would have ended up hitting Ash directly. Was he hoping to catch him off guard with the resulting blast?

“For the child of such an honourable family, you have such a savage style. Then again, if your parents adopted such a style, I wouldn't be standing before you. I commend you, we should learn from the mistakes of our forefathers after all.”

He turned around and saw Tibaut had created a giant fireball above himself. He slowly looked up at it and started walking towards Tibaut. He took his time as he made his way over.

(“Is planning to hit me with that?”) He wondered as he approached closer.

Tibaut quickly threw it down and the man showed no reaction. What he did react to was the fireball unravelling and surrounding them in a veil of sorts.

“How novel.” He commented.

“YOU SAY SOMETHING YOU BASTARD!? THIS IS YOUR GRAVE!” Tibaut tried to shout, with a throat that had given up.

He raised a hand above his head and formed a fireball of his own. It was the size of the one created by Tibaut but formed within a fraction of a second. Unlike Tibaut’s, this flame was a bright blue, and just like Ash's flames, he could feel the heat several feet away from the mass of flames.