Absolution shifted. Back during his fight with the other Outworlder at the Assembly that Invictus had brought Alex and Claire to, Absolution had seemed like he was teleporting with every step.

But a lot had changed since then. Alex's body was no longer the same. What had once been completely impossible to track was now a blurred streak shooting toward him. Absolution wasn't teleporting. He was just incredibly fast.

Unfortunately, that difference wouldn't make Alex any less dead if he got caught.

The world lurched around him as he teleported, reforming several feet behind where Absolution had been an instant before. He appeared just in time to see the other man's scythe carve through the air where his neck had been in a streak of black.

Glint leapt at Absolution. His claws streaked through the air in a silvery flash, only to ring off the head of the scythe as Absolution spun it before him. He blurred again as Princess lunged at him.

He evaded her easily, carving through one of her necks with his weapon in the process. Sludge splattered across the ground in an arc as her mask pitched forward, only for black tendrils to shoot out and catch it, reconnecting the severed part back to her body.

She lunged at Absolution again. But, before she could close the distance between them, the burning eye within the hole in the man's chest snapped to look right at her. There was a deep, bone-shaking thrum.

The air around Princess distorted. There was a wet crunch as she slammed into the ground, splattering as her body was compacted as if an invisible mountain had fallen directly on it.

Spark and his shadow darted for Absolution, and Glint was right on their heels.

The Outworlder's scythe carved out. It shot for Spark, only to connect with his shadow as he swapped places with it. His black gauntlet slammed into Absolution's face, only to knock it a few inches to the side.

But the blow bought them an instant. Glint used it to close the gap between himself and Absolution, lunging at the man's throat and bringing his glistening silver cloak down like a blade toward his neck.

Absolution was forced to jump back. The eye in his chest broke contact with Princess and her sludgy body lurched back into its proper shape, rapidly repairing the damage she had taken.

"Interesting," Absolution said. His eyes flicked to Alex — and then he was an inch away from him, their faces just a breath apart.

The hair on the back of Alex's neck stood on end. A shrill scream filled his ears as the air around him warped. He felt the glowing eye boring into him as—

A crack split the air. Claire's thorned whip sliced down toward Absolution. One of his hands shot out and grabbed the vine. His fingers clenched around it, ignoring the thorns that dug into his skin.

The attack momentarily broke his concentration. Alex felt the hum assaulting his ears still. He threw himself back to put more distance between them. Close combat fights — especially when his monsters were still alive — were not his specialty.

Absolution didn't release Claire's whip. Instead, he gave it a sharp tug and swung the vine around like a flail. Claire crashed into the wall with a bone-shaking thud, her wrist still attached to the weapon's other end.

She dropped to the ground and let out a pained grunt. But, before Alex could even think to check on her, Absolution blurred toward him. The edge of the Outworlder's scythe was at his side within an instant.

Alex teleported. He took cover behind Princess, sending both Glint and Spark racing toward Absolution to buy him a few instants to try and come up with some manner of a plan.

Absolution didn't even seem to notice the monsters. His eyes remained locked on Alex, features flat as a metal sheet once more. The end of his scythe glistened with a droplet of blood. Fresh blood.

Alex's shoulder stung. Even though his magical clothes had already reformed, there was blood staining into the white cloth. Absolution had managed to land a blow on him.

He managed to cut me in that last attack? Shit. This guy is too damn fast.

Even though the cut was little more than a scratch, Alex hadn't forgotten what had happened to Absolution's last opponent. It had been some heavily armored Outworlder with the ability to gigantify herself.

Absolution had cut some kind of intricate pattern into her armor with his scythe, pretending that his blows weren't able to penetrate her defenses. Then he'd defeated her in little more than an instant.

And now Absolution had unlocked even more of his power than he'd had last time. Every single cut, no matter how small or insignificant, brought Alex closer to defeat. He had absolutely no idea how many blows the other man needed to instantly win.

"Why do you get fucking Exodia as your domain?" Alex muttered. "This is completely unfair."

"The concept of fairness is what the weak use to justify their position in life," Absolution said.

Claire staggered to her feet and shook herself off. She darted toward Absolution, but the man didn't bother waiting around for her to reach him.

He blurred again — but this time, not toward Alex. He appeared before the nameless woman with the giant paintbrush, his scythe streaking through the air for her neck with a shrill scream.

Alex didn't even have time to curse. He activated his domain, blinking into being beside the woman and slamming his shoulder into her back. She lurched forward, stumbling right beneath the path of Absolution's strike.

The Outworlder didn't even hesitate. He kept his momentum, sending his scythe whistling in a full circle around him to come right back at the painter as she fell. She started drawing magical lines through the air with her brush — but it only took Alex a single instant to realize she wasn't going to be fast enough.

Gritting his teeth, he activated his domain once more. But Alex wasn't the one that shifted positions this time around.

Princess appeared between Absolution and the painter, porcelain white claws already slicing through the air mid-swing. Her hand slammed into Absolution's side with a crunch.

He skidded back, stumbling but managing to maintain his balance despite the heavy blow. It only took him off guard for an instant. But that instant was enough for Claire to close the distance between them.

She slashed her fingers down for his shoulder, her fingernails glistening jet black as they sharpened into claws. Glint and Spark dove for the Outworlder in unison with her.

Absolution vaulted back, driving the head of his scythe into the ground like an acrobat. Glint's claws sliced just past him. Before Spark could try to adjust the trajectory of his attack, the Outworlder pushed himself off the scythe's butt and launched into the air.

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Strands of black magic raced down from his hands to grab onto the scythe in his wake. They yanked it up, sending its tip flashing straight up for Glint's chest in a blurred streak.

The painter brought her brush down, catching the scythe before it could pierce Glint. The two weapons connected with a heavy thud. Absolution's arc through the air above jerked to a halt as his magic strands pulled taut.

Princess grabbed Spark and launched the Knight Wraith at him like a cannonball. At the same time, black wings exploded out from Claire's back. They snapped down with a thunderous crack to launch her into the sky.

Absolution grabbed onto the strands of dark magic running from his hand and yanked himself down, slipping beneath Spark's trajectory and just barely out of range. The eye in his chest swiveled to look at Spark.

There was a thrumming hum. The Knight Wraith jerked to a halt mid-air as gravity magnified its pull a thousandfold, summoning him back down to the ground in a black streak. The monster hit the floor with a resounding crash.

Absolution then released the magic connecting him to the scythe and spun midair, grabbing Claire's arms before she could claw his eyes out.

The two of them tumbled back toward the ground in an odd dance as they each battled to try and get the upper hand over the other. Then Absolution twisted, swinging Claire over his head with both hands like she was a toy doll.

He launched her toward the ground with such force that her wings couldn't even try to break the fall. They trailed behind her, whipping through the air as Claire hurtled toward the stone floor like a comet.

Alex activated his domain. Princess vanished, reforming beneath the Dhampir instants before she hit the floor. A spray of black sludge flew in every direction as Claire slammed into Princess' body and sent it splattering across the room.

Absolution slammed into the ground several feet away from her. Glint leapt at him, shimmering claws singing through the air in a deadly dance. The Outworlder leapt back, but Glint still managed to catch him across the shoulder.

Surprise flickered across Absolution's features. He glanced down at the wound as blood started to pour down his shoulder. Glint's glancing blow had cut deep enough to send blood spilling out across his chest. His razor-sharp claws were no less effective against him than they were against a monster.

Absolution's glowing chest-eye snapped to look at Glint. The Glasmir slammed to the ground with a crunch.

Claire stumbled out from within Princess, coughing and hacking up black sludge. She wiped the black matter from her face and flicked it to the ground, where it rushed to flow back into the Mirematron's body.

The painter flicked her brush through the air, drawing several rapid strokes into being. Each one tore out in a shimmering arc of magical paint. They shot toward Absolution with startling speed, forcing him to dodge back to avoid the attacks.

Alex drew on his magic, letting power race through his hands as his eyes darted in attempt to keep up with Absolution. They had to play this perfectly. The slightest mistake would be enough to—

Absolution blurred toward the painter. His hand shot out as he ran, and black strands of magic snapped into being between himself and his scythe. They ripped the weapon from the ground and yanked it back into his grip.

Spark and Princess both lurched for him. He leapt over both of them, sailing through the air like he'd suddenly decided that it was a good day to be a bird. His scythe flashed behind him. All three of Princess' masks shattered as a wave of crisscrossing lines raced across her entire body. She collapsed to the ground, melting into a puddle of energy that flowed back to Alex.

Claire's wings snapped down. She launched herself into the air once more, shooting straight to intercept the Outworlder midair.

Absolution thrust his free hand toward the ground. Strands of magic snapped into being, yanking him down and out of her path in a blur. He hit it in a roll and shot upright just a few inches before the painter, his scythe carving right for her neck —

Alex teleported.

He appeared directly in front of Absolution, the magic in his hands already slipping free before he'd properly registered the new space around him, and he cast Funhouse.

Reality shattered. Text acquired from M|V|LEMP&YR.

Absolution's scythe jerked as the man suddenly found himself spun in place. He staggered to the side, his blade finding nothing but air, and Claire drove into him an instant later. Her fangs slammed down on Absolution's shoulder.

Before she could do anything more, Absolution grabbed her by the hair. He yanked Claire away from himself and slammed her to the ground before him. With his other hand, he brought his scythe down for her neck in a flash.

Claire could regenerate from a lot of things — but that wasn't one of them.

No!

Alex teleported.

A wet thud echoed through the room. A blow drove into his chest and knocked all the air from his lungs. Pain followed moments after it.

Absolution's scythe was embedded in his heart.

"Compassion is expensive," Absolution said. "And you cannot afford it. I don't even need my domain to deal with the likes of you."

The Outworlder's fist crashed into the side of Alex's face. He found himself ripped off the end of the scythe and sent hurtling through the air like a flailing rocket. The world blurred as it spun around him. A pounding pain in his cheekbone made it clear that something was broken and—

The back of his head cracked against stone wall.

Stars exploded before Alex's eyes. His vision flashed, growing hazy, as he squinted through fluttering eyes. He had no idea how hard he'd hit the wall, but given how fast he'd been knocked back, he was pretty sure the back of his skull was cracked clean open.

"One," Absolution said dispassionately, a foot on Claire's stomach, his scythe hanging in the air like the sword of Damocles.

Several more magical blades sliced through the air as the painter swept her brush through the air. The eye in Absolution's chest snapped to look from Glint to the painter. A whump filled the air as gravity suddenly seemed to shift its path.

The painter was yanked off her feet. Her brush flew from her hands as her throat was pulled, as if by a magnet, to slam right into Absolution's outstretched hand. She let out a choking wheeze and clawed fruitlessly at his fingers as they tightened.

Faint prickles of sensation returned to Alex as Princess' magic worked to knit him back together. He pressed a trembling hand against the ground. Even just pushing himself upright was a fight — but he wasn't done yet.

There were still cards left for him to play. They'd come too damn far to let this asshole kill them now because of some mere unlucky meeting.

His teeth gritted. He still had a hell of a lot of tricks to pull.

Absolution's scythe raised.

Alex teleported.

He appeared before Absolution, his fist already blurring through the air toward the other man's face. There was no doubt in his mind that he wasn't going to be able to do any real damage with a physical blow alone. Absolution was too powerful.

So he drew on a little extra magic and shoved it out, mixing a drop of Qi into the mix as he cast Funhouse — not on Absolution, but just behind him.

Reality cracked as a gravitational force yanked on his hand, dragging it toward the center of the rift. Absolution, predicably, barely even reacted to it.

Alex's fist was an entirely different story.

The blow accelerated, growing faster still the closer it grew to the edge of the rift. The Outworlder's eyes only had an instant to widen before the blow connected with the side of his face.

Absolution's head snapped to the side. A blood splattered from his lips as he staggered back, his hand shooting up to his bruised cheek. His tongue poked at a tooth. It wiggled slightly. And then, for a moment, something entirely different passed behind his eyes.

It was disbelief. Disbelief and anger — anger that a mere Nativeworlder had managed to not only strike him but had also drawn a fair amount of blood in the process. He was humiliated. The man's grip on his scythe tightened until his knuckles were practically white.

Absolution turned toward Alex, death in his gaze.

Finley's voice sliced through the air in a shrill yell.

"That's it! Don't fucking move!" Finley screamed, his voice cracking. "Nobody fucking move!"

Absolution glanced over to him. The man's expression didn't even flicker. "Merchant. You can't interfere. I sense the System's restrictions on you. Don't even bother."

"Wrong," Finley snarled. "That's true enough. But that does not make me helpless."

"Oh?" Absolution tilted his head to the side. "And what are you going to do, merchant?"

"This." Finley stepped forward. He cupped his hands and a ball of brilliant white spawned within them, instantly filling the room with a harsh glow. "I may not be able to fight, but I have access to magical artifacts. This is a destabilized core from a Subsector Lord that came from a Tier 3 World. The only thing keeping it from going off is a tiny metal pin. You make one more move and I pull it."

Absolution let out a cold laugh. "You'd be caught within the explosion as well. You don't have the—"

"Fucking try me!" Finley screamed. Spittle flew from his lips as he took another step forward, eyes wide with terror and fury. "This is my one chance to get out of debt. I have no other partners. If you kill them, it doesn't matter if I survive. I'm done for. To me, death is better than failure. Can you say the same? If you can… swing that scythe. Swing it and I'll send every single one of us to the next life."