Alexander's foot slowly slid up.
In a quick burst, he sprinted forward.
He raised his sword toward the man, the tip toward his chest.
He covered the distance between them, tightly clutching the hilt.
The man didn't move.
The moment Alexander's sword was in range, he deflected it.
The way he held the sickle felt superficial. It looked as if he barely held it, with no strength in his fingers.
Alexander stopped himself, planting his feet in the ground.
He chained with another thrusting motion.
The sickle hung loosely from the Will Breaker's hand, dangling from his grip as he deflected the other thrusts.
He then loosely moved his right hand in his back, the right sickle clinking against Fae's sword.
Alexander's gaze became cold.
She had made no sound, the air not even whistling as she approached from the back.
Alexander frowned, doubling the speed at which he tried stabbing the man.
The Will Breaker moved his weapon left and right, lazily deflecting each hit.
Alexander went even faster, Fae picking up the momentum.
It felt like they were dancing, as the clash sent sparks flying through the dark.
The silence between the strikes was palpable, heavy.
In a sudden move, the man threw one weapon above his head.
It spun quickly, its handle barely distinguishable from its blade.
He blocked the strikes coming his way with one hand, until the floating sickle fell in his other hand.
He then threw his other sickle, defending with his other hand with a weapon he held like a toy.
"Is this it?"
Alexander's face became pale, as the wind whistled. His eyes went up instinctively.
He took a step back, dodging the falling sickle above his head.
He didn't plan to catch this one?!
The Will Breaker grabbed the sickle mid-air while stepping forward, turning on his side to deliver a powerful kick to Alexander's stomach.
Air fled his lungs in a violent gasp as he crashed and rolled across the stone.
The man then quickly took two steps back, dodging Fae's blade inches from his wrist.
"You're quick f—"
He stopped mid-sentence, his head tilted down.
Using his weapons defensively, he blocked Alexander's kick, sliding back a meter.
"So, you're finally using it?" said the man.
Alexander's eyes had turned into crosses, dead-center on the Will Breaker.
"You're finally holding your weapons properly," replied Alexander.
Fae was in his back, describing short circles while Alexander stood in the front.
The man slowly assumed a fighting stance, pointing a sickle toward each of them, a crease appearing on his forehead.
Through Alexander's gaze, it all happened slowly.
He rushed forward, swinging his sword from the hip.
The man took a step backward, then another, deflecting each hit coming his way.
Alexander's could see his every movement, his every muscle twitching.
Fae, taking advantage of the pressure, moved in.
She elegantly moved up, her body as close to the ground as it could be.
She almost looked like she was crawling, her sword waving around with her as she went for the knees.
"Fae!"
His words came late, the man, without even looking, started a throwing motion with his right hand.
Calculating the trajectory, Alexander tried his best throwing his own sword.
It swung forward, then left the tip of his fingers spinning.
Alexander's eyes couldn't detach from the scene happening in slow motion.
Will it hit?
The sword spun awkwardly. With luck, its hilt hit the sickle's blade, diverting it to the ground next to Fae.
She didn't flinch. She didn't even pause.
Her blade slipped under the deflected sickle and drew a clean red line across his leg.
She stopped herself, describing a circular motion on the ground as she turned back around.
The man sighed, light bleeding pouring out of the wound.
Alexander's eyes couldn't miss a single detail.
He's not scared, or even on his guard.
He looked at Fae, she was in perfect condition, he had yet to see her out of breath.
His vision, however, was starting to crack.
He sees everything. There's no point in surprise attacks.
Alexander took a deep breath, Fae's gaze set on him, awaiting his next action.
He nodded, Fae readying her blade as they both turned to the man.
The will breaker was no longer messing around, holding his remaining sickle up while lowering his center of mass.
In another quick burst, Alexander rushed forward his hands empty.
"I'll cut you down…" said the man, as he also rushed forward.
He sees everything… Then what if I force him to see even more?
Through the fragmented vision, he focused his mind, his thoughts converging toward one spell.
[ The Gift ]
In the Will Breaker's empty eyes, an abyssal cross blinked.
It blinked for a mere split second.
For that moment, however, through his eyes the world opened up.
It was a surge of information, overwhelming his mind.
You see everything. How does that pair up with the [ Witness of All Paths ]?
Fae's flow was uninterrupted, cutting deep into the man's arm. As the flicker of information left him, the man turned around.
Alexander was standing up, holding the sickle he had thrown earlier in his hand.
He grabbed his own arm, pressuring the wound inflicted by Fae.
Alexander was smiling.
But it faded.
The Will Breaker had a smile of his own.
It widened, devious and vile.
Through teeth they could hear his slow, somber laughter that came like tremors, turning into an outburst.
His chest moved up and down as he barely contained himself, his head tilted back as he looked up at the black sun, delighted.
"Your sight… Thanks for giving me a taste."
Alexander's face darkened; he glanced at Fae.
Her gaze wasn't on him anymore, but stuck to the man. It followed his every movement.
His own heartbeat was barely bearable, yet it was faint compared to how his head felt.
His vision kept fracturing, like someone repeatedly smashed his head with a hammer.
Then, without a warning, it all changed.
Not the fractures, but what they displayed.
The scenery before him, it vanished.
There was no fading, no darkness, it was instant.
He instantly teleported.
Fae, who was behind the man, was now a few meters from him.
Sharp pain radiated from his shoulder, he could see as Fae ran toward him.
Alexander turned on himself, his eyes desperately searching for the man.
The cracks he saw had became rifts pushing the pieces apart.
His pupils became narrower, as every inch of the platform was assimilated by his sight.
But even with his sight.
He couldn't see him.
He could hear.
Echoes, extremely faint, as if they happened far away. Clinking sounds, swords that kept striking against each other.
It all felt like it happened far away, it barely brushed his mind as his brain focused on what he could see before him.
After blinking a few times, Alexander let go of his [ Witness of All Paths ].
The moment he let go of the the spells, he could hear the clinking as they happened inches behind him.
He turned around to Fae blocking strikes left and right.
A kick connected, shoving Fae into Alexander, sending both of them tumbling back.
The man stood there, spinning his sickle in the air before catching it.
He shook his head, repeating a 'tsk' sound with his tongue.
"Did you not realize your own weaknesses?"
Fae and him both quickly stood back up.
Weakness?
"You teleported around…" started Alexander, while holding his head.
"I teleported once. Then I simply walked."
The spinning stopped—he flicked the sickle toward Alexander in a blur.
"Your gaze... It's quite a strong sight. Too strong, even. It overloads you with information, it pushes aside important things. Your mind is so focused on what you see, you barely process everything else. What you hear, what you smell, and even what you feel."
He pointed down with his sickle.
Following his movement, he looked as his leg.
Blood was pouring out, a large but shallow cut right across his thigh.
When?!
He instantly started pressuring the wound with one of his hands, barely feeling the pain through his burning head.
He glanced at Fae, standing beside him, and at the mask at her hip.
There is no more safe cards to play.