Sayed stalked through the ruins from the west, his blades drawn and his eyes watching every shadow. He knew the plan but also knew it would not go according to plan. For Sayed, he was in a grand story, and part of that was that the world around him rarely went according to plan.

Either way, he had to get into position so that he could react when Alex began the plan. Whatever his misgivings and doubts, Sayed would be in place for his friends, ready to fight to the end. That was who he was at his core.

He needed to find a place where he could see the coming fight but also be able to respond. He was designated to take on the swordsman first if the armored man appeared and any other fighter second if it was not Jean's primary target. Sayed could understand the focus, though it made him feel a little raven-holed into one position.

"I am certainly a swordsman, but that is not all that I am. Is it my role to fight those who wield a blade and those alone?" Sayed huffed.

He could not deny the logic, though. Blade for blade, fist for fist, gun for gun, each had their own specialties and preferences. Erin might have difficulty going against a swordsman, while Alex, Wen, or Sayed could easily compete. Alex, Sayed, and Jean might have trouble facing an archer, but Wen could easily fight back at range.

"We are like pieces of a puzzle." Sayed smiled as he slunk up to the side of a building while still staying in the shadows. "Alone, each one of us is an odd piece, but together, we make a full picture."

As he peered out from the shadows, he saw Alex arrive at the entrance. The ruins were largely dark and quiet, which was not what Sayed had expected. Surely, their opponents would have reacted to their plans. A growing weight fell into Sayed's stomach as Alex continued out into the open. Something was wrong.

The moment Sayed had the thought, he heard the sound of shifting weight behind him. The scraping sound of metal clattering against metal crept up his spine like a bug. Sayed flipped himself around, searching the shadows around him for the source of the sound. The dark ruins stretched around him as his eyes jumped left and right.

Srrch.

Metal scraped against metal, and Sayed gripped his blades tight. He was right. The plan had gone wrong, and he knew it the moment the swordsman stepped out from the shadows, his blade dragging along the wall beside him. Sayed did not know his name immediately, but he recognized the man as the swordsman who had charged them earlier in the night.

"We meet again," the man said, stopping his massive blade before holding it up with one hand. "What say you, swordsman? Are you ready to face the blade of the strongest swordsman?"

"Strongest?" Sayed pursed his lips before shaking his head. "That simply cannot be true."

"You've never heard of me?" the man asked, the blade shaking as he pointed it straight at Sayed. "To think that all the I put into making a name for myself—the bodies I've dropped, the people I've torn to shreds, and you don't recognize me?"

He lowered his blaze as he spat out the last few words, but Sayed did not understand why he was so angry. The nature of the Erth would mean plenty of people were disconnected from major news and events. Sayed had no way to know that the man in front of him was famous for anything.

"I apologize, but I have never heard of you." Sayed shrugged, moving his feet into a wide stance as he watched the man. "But, why are we bothering with how people think of you? How well you fight at the moment is much more important."

"You don't understand." The man sighed, his blade drooping toward the ground until it tinked against a metal plate in the ground. "Why wield a blade at all if your name doesn't send shivers down your opponent's spine? It is your reputation as the strongest that makes it all worthwhile."

"Hah." Sayed snorted, shaking his head as he raised one sword above his head and held the other pointed forward.

"Hollowedge Awaken," the man whispered, swinging his sword up with a sudden movement. "Let us show this man the power of Seigfried, the greatest swordsman to ever live."

Sayed clenched his teeth. For a moment, he thought the man was activating his blessing, but it did not make sense. He called on the blade to awaken, not for his gate to open. Sayed did not have time to doubt himself, though. He opened the gate in his heart and called on God's fire to flow through his body.

A fire ignited inside his chest, and the burning sensation raged through his chest and out to the extremity of his limbs. Sayed's blessing was heat, the hot, just rage of God itself, and he let that power consume him. His blades burned hot orange as he stared down Seigfried.

"I know what power you have hidden within that sword, but it will avail you not against me," Sayed said, a smile cracking his face. "I have the blessing of god on my side."

Whoosh.

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Siegfried swung his blade in a wide arc, rotating it in several flourishes around his body despite its great size. The sword was easily as tall as he was, but the man wielded it with such deft grace. It was as his chest, and the burning sensation raged through his chest and out to the extremities of his limbs. Sayed's blessing was heat, the hot rage of God. The blade moved like it weighed nothing and was a toy in the man's hands. However, Sayed knew the truth about the strength of that sword. He had seen Siegfried bring it down on Alex earlier that night.

"I'll shatter that confidence and your blade with it," Siegfried said. "Hollowedge hungers. Cleaver's Edge!"

Siegfried threw his blade back like he was going to make a long horizontal swing with both hands, and Sayed prepared for that, bringing up his blades to hopefully parry away most of the force. However, as Siegfried brought back his blades, Sayed noticed flakes of brown dirt in the air. They trialed off the blade as Siegfried brought the sword back, and Sayed squinted to make out what they were.

Any swordsman worth his blade would recognize the rust that filled the air. Sayed's eyes widened. Surely, Seigfried would not come at him with a rusted blade. That was just asking for defeat. His eyes roved toward the edge of the sword. The entire edge of the long broadsword was coated in a brown layer of rust.

He did not have long to think about the implications. Sayed reacted through his instinct alone. Siegfried came for him, his body blurring as he took a step forward and swung his sword. Flakes of rust fell from his blade and hung suspended in the air as Sayed threw himself to the ground.

"Grrt," he grunted as he caught himself on his fists, blades still in hand.

Whoosh.

Siegfried's blade sliced through the air above him, and as Sayed looked up, he noticed that the attack was not over. As Seigfried reached the end of his horizontal arc, his arm flexed, the muscles bludging. Sayed threw himself to the side as the sword came down on him, dirt and dust flying from the strike as Siegfried's massive sword slammed into the ground.

Boom.

Sayed caught himself in the roll, coming up with his fists on the ground, holding his blazing hot blades pointing toward each other. Sayed ensured they did not touch, but it was a near thing. The heat from his blades rose from the ground, and the air shimmered as Sayed got his feet back beneath him.

"You're running an awful lot for a man so eager to fight," Seigfreid said, holding his heavy sword above his head with the blade pointed up and behind him. "Was all your talk just now for show?"

"Hmmph." Sayed pushed himself up, again placing his legs wide as he held one sword above his head. "I was eager to fight until I sensed trickery afoot. You have a blessing of some sort."

"A blessing?" Siegfreid's head tilted before his eyes widened. "Ah, you think I'm cursed. I can assure you I am not."

"Yet you fight with a rusted blade?"

A smile crossed Siegfried's face as he adjusted his grip, taking a step forward but keeping the sword held high.

"You noticed that, did you?" he asked as he closed the distance in slow, methodical steps. "Very few people notice the rust until it is too late. Then they've already lost."

Sayed knew he was using his words to gain an advantage but needed to know what he was planning. There were too many strange abilities across the nightsea to just charge in. Like with Sayed's illusions, the slightest misunderstanding was the difference between life and death.

"And what power is that?"

Sayed also started to move, scuttling to the side in a circle as Siegfried advanced. One of them would have to take the first swing, and how the other reacted would determine who won the engagement. Sayed merely needed to know what strange power the man had with his rusted blade.

"To feed Hollowedge's hunger." Siegfried smiled, showing his gleaming teeth. "Cleaver's Cut!"

Siegfried lunged, no longer willing to take the more passive stance. His right leg shot out as he swung his massive blade down from above. Sayed jumped backward, clenching his leg muscles before releasing them in a sudden charge. He did not trust himself to escape in a dodge this time.

"Devil's Thrust!"

Sayed stepped forward in the wake of the swing. Siegfried's massive sword might have been heavy, but that was also its downfall. Sayed's two lighter khopeshes were able to slice in and out with quick bursts. He slammed the tip of his blade into Siegfried's side, aiming for one of the many holes in the man's silver armor.

Ting.

Metal met metal as Siegfried pivoted on his foot, forcing the tip of Sayed's blade onto the metal chest piece that covered his ribs. Sayed's blade burned hot against the armor but did no damage beyond that. In the pause of the strike, Siegfried shifted his footing, carrying his swing enough to slide Sayed's blade to the side and bring his shoulder into Sayed's chest.

"Oof!" Sayed grunted as Siegfried crashed into him with his armor.

They both toppled to the ground. Sayed's vision blurred as he fought to get his feet again. He and Siegfried were one, a tangle of limbs for a moment, and Sayed lost hold of one of his blades before he could force himself away from the man and back on his feet. Siegfried rose not far away, one hand on his sword as he knelt with one of Sayed's khopeshes beneath his metal boot.

Sayed's eyes focused on the sword. It was his own khopesh, not Abed's, which was still in his hand. The blade had seen him through many battles during the civil war on Hajh and through his many fights across the nightsea before meeting Alex. Sayed clenched his teeth as he saw that metal boot lying on the flat of his blade.

"You will take your foot off my sword," Sayed whispered, his voice shaking as he pushed himself up from the ground. "Or I will remove it from your leg."

"I can understand that." Siegfried smiled, pushing himself up from the ground and digging his foot into the flat of the blade. "A sword is a man's soul, or whatever the saying is."

"Then you will step aside," Sayed said, narrowing his eyes.

"I would." Siegfried looked Sayed in the eyes. "But Hollowedge hungers."

He brought up his massive blade as he stood, the rusted edge throwing off flakes as he swung it around his torso. Sayed lunged forward, ready to push Siegfried off his blade while the man was off balance, but Siegfried did not bring his sword around to attack Sayed. No, he caught his sword in both hands and thrust the tip down into Sayed's blade.

For a moment, the world froze around Sayed. He saw his sword lying on the ground, the rust tip piercing the flat of the blade. He saw Siegfried smiling madly as he stabbed down into it. He saw his own hand reaching out to push the swordsman off balance. In the next moment, red dust erupted along Sayed's sword, the entire blade turning to a red, dark mist before his very eyes.

Sayed's vision blurred.