“What did you just call Her?” Sandoval growled.

He put his foot on me and kicked himself away. He held his wounded flank and gazed at it as it got foul with his own blood.

“That toy won’t protect you. I have already broken many,” I bothered to explain while lunging at him.

I punched his face. He raised his arm and the vambrace that covered it shattered. He swung a knife at me. I grasped it and crushed it. The metal fragments stuck in my palm and my purple ichor fell to the ground. I clawed at his head. He barely avoided his head being pierced, but he lost his mask and his face showed up.

His astonished expression became visible.

“Stay back, you fiend!” he shouted. His power exploded from his body, propelling the two of us in opposite directions.

He was still holding his pierced belly as his blood flowed and showed no sign of stopping.

“How did you do that?” he asked.

“Do you see the ground?” I asked in return.

“What?” he uttered dumbfounded.

“Do you see the sky?” I continued.

“What are you…”

“Do you see the sun? Do you see that mountain range? Do you hear the wind?” I continued to list all that could be seen and heard.

It took the best part of a minute. I stopped and we looked at each other. I opened my mouth again.

“Everything you see. Everything you hear. Everything you touch. Everything you experienced during your whole life. It came from me. The miracles of The Black. They came from me. And if I so desire, I shall erase them. Isn’t it simple?” I graciously explained.

Sandoval looked at me with empty eyes. He couldn’t process what I was telling him. My words didn’t fit in the vision of the world he had held for his entire life.

“What lies are you spouting? The world comes from Mother…”

I forced him to the ground, my feet planted on his sternum. He coughed blood at the sudden pressure.

“I told you not to mention her in front of me,” I told him while furrowing my brow.

“You are just a fiend! It doesn’t matter what you do to me! Even if I fall, the Chosen One will ultimately triumph over a usurper like you!” he glared at me.

I laughed.

“Usurper? This world is mine. The one you call ‘Chosen One’ is just a petty thief who wanted to live his own deranged fantasies,” I glared back at him.

“Lies!”

“Why would I bother tricking you? Adult archs don’t lie, nor do I. And then, you know, I will still rip you apart after all. But before I do, let me tell you a short story. The one you call Mother. Yes, she did indeed make this world. But not alone. She used me. She violated my soul. Ripped it into a thousand pieces. Just to entertain herself”

Sandoval grasped my leg and tried to free himself. I pulled my weight further to make sure he couldn’t, and the ground cracked.

“What are you trying to tell me? That the knowledge of my people is an illusion? That you are the one that made us?” he shouted.

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“Oh, no no no. You aren’t one of mine, nor the others like you. She made you up tighether with that idiot,” I answered disgustedly.

I looked at him. He glared at me as he uselessly struggled to free himself from my grasp. His disgraceful appearance repulsed me. I raised my hand, ready to take his life.

“You will die! The b***h you hold so dear will die!” he barked.

I sighed while fury got hold of my body.

“You see, that was your true mistake. Not trying to kill me. Not being the son of that w***e. But coming here to hurt the only one I hold dear in my heart. Die now,” I swung down on him.

The world was tinted in white. I felt my body being scorched and raised into the sky. My eyes got burnt by the sudden light and I went blind for several seconds. When I regained my eyesight, Sandoval appeared in front of me. His broken armour had become a clearer colour and a soft hue enveloped his body.

A grin was plastered on his face as he held his hands together in prayer.

“I was blessed! I will vanquish the fiend in your name!” he cried out to the sky.

He then fixed his eyes on me.

“This is Mother’s blessing. You will fall today,” he whispered.

His body floated into the sky. His aura, now more radiant than ever, saturated the atmosphere while mana vanished all around. His power pricked my skin. I raised my concentration. This situation was new. It was different from what I had experienced until now. Since I had become part of this world, I had fought several foes, but no one had truly put me in danger. I was now aware that they couldn’t actually hurt me at a deep enough level.

The power that coursed through his veins was the opposite. My body could probably endure it, but I doubted my broken soul could. It was a power made to vanquish me. I collected myself. I couldn’t fall here. I had to mete out retribution to those who had wronged me and, even more important, there were those I still needed to protect.

I braced myself for the first attack of the enemy and it was not long in coming. Weapons rained down on me at incomparable speed. I moved out of the way, avoiding as many as possible. The weapons dug through the ground like it wasn’t there, disappearing deep inside it. One sword grazed my side and a shock jolted me. It hurt.

I jumped and reached my enemy. I kicked at his head while he intercepted the attack with what was left of his vambrace. It didn’t break nor crack, protected as it was by the golden hue. The power dissolved in my ichor couldn’t pierce through.

I swung my arm towards the side and used the momentum to kick him with the other leg. This time my attack made contact. He bent in half and returned down to earth. I fell on him, but he stood up and got out of the way before I could crack his skull open with my stomp. His whip sword floated in his hand and he swung it.

My body moved automatically in response as if it was a familiar attack. The disconnected blades danced over my head, extending far into the distance and chipping at the mountain peaks behind me. I lunged at him and sunk my fingers into his exposed flesh.

He cried out in pain and started whipping at my back as I dragged him away from the Perimeter. Every single attack of his sent a wave of pain travelling through my being. But I held on, a fire fueled by my ichor burning in my heart.

I raised my speed with every stomp, destroying the landscape and outrunning the weapons flying towards us. I jumped high into the sky. Then, recalling a long unused ability of mine, I morphed my body and raised its mass numerous times. Gravity did the rest of the work as we impacted the ground like a meteor. Sandoval spat out blood as the golden hue enveloping him wavered for a moment, while I bled from the knife he had planted in my thigh.

I took some distance, running backwards as several spears skewered the land I had just left. I grabbed one, bit my lip and spat my purplish blood on it, freeing it from Sandoval’s control. I rotated it above my head, deflecting the remaining raining weapons. I propelled myself towards Sandoval and thrust the spear towards his neck. He avoided the attack and swung the whip swords once again.

I raised the spear to protect myself. The blades grazed its shaft, ultimately cutting it in half, but giving me the time to push myself out of their way. The entire region was uprooted as the hundred blades cut in half the hill we were standing on.

“Tremble, fake idol!” Sandoval barked at me.

He ran at me with a mace in one hand and a sword in the other. I avoided the blade and blocked the blunt weapon. My bones creaked but didn’t break. My skeleton was indeed my pride and joy.

I punched him in the face. My ichor burned and the weight behind my fist grew by a multiple. The golden hue covering him condensed more and more, forming a barrier against my attack. It wasn’t enough to completely protect him and my fist managed to smash his nose and send him flying.

I followed after him, avoiding the floating weapons continuously aiming for my neck and legs. I focused on my wounds and forced my cells to divide and multiply, divide and multiply, consciously regenerating my flesh.

I met Sandoval’s glare. Only one of us would return alive.