Fractured God

Through the exposed part of the mask, Tibaut could see his emotions more clearly. He wasn't desperate to get the knife in Tibaut but rather thrilled by the current battle.

“Is this it, kid? I haven't even gone all out yet!”

He noticed a source of heat behind him and quickly struggled. He managed to turn himself sideways but this only showed Tibaut that he couldn't get away.

“Then don't force yourself,” Tibaut said before firing off the fireball. He then felt an almost unnatural force starting to pull on the man before he left his grasp and avoided the fireball.

The man in black then gave Tibaut a bow. “Then I shall oblige.”

Tibaut had closed the distance almost instantly and brought his hand down like a hammer to his head. Yet, he barely missed. He ended up grazing his head, tearing some of the fabric on the man's head off, revealing short-cut hair.

Was the low light of the building throwing him off?

The man in black responded by grabbing his arm and attempting to stab him in the shoulder, with both men now bent down lower than they'd like. Tibaut wildly swung with his other hand from this awkward position and the man in black delivered another headbutt.

As Tibaut reeled back from the blow, he dragged the man in black's arm with a grip that'd leave experienced mountain climbers swooning and dragged him onto the floor as well.

The man in black stabbed into the floor, glancing Tibaut with the blade and Tibaut responded by delivering a blow to his stomach, his unnatural positioning making the blow more wimpy than he'd like. But it still had the man in black trying his best to get back to his feet. After trying and failing to get back up, he did a handstand and brought his knee down with all the force he could muster to Tibaut’s head. Tibaut smirked before trying to create a fireball in his hand that had grabbed onto the man in black.

The man in black could feel the building mana and again an almost uncanny force began pulling him away before the fireball could.

(“Does this fucker have a rinnegan!? How the hell is he doing this!!”)

He threw the fireball and even with a change in direction, it was far off his target. He couldn't take this bastard. This fucker treated this whole thing as some game. Ezekiel and the other people he killed likely had to suffer a similar fate as they fought him. What an unnecessarily cruel end for them. He'd have to make his end tens or hundreds of times more cruel if he hoped to give them reprieve in the afterlife.

He formed various fire spears around himself and shot them off as soon as that bastard thought he could open his mouth.

He began dodging them and soon grabbed a nearby table to stop them. The fire spears would take chunks of wood off the table but he didn't imagine the man in black was in any danger. Tibaut immediately changed to a fireball and the instant he did the table was flung at a frankly ridiculous speed at him before he fired it off. He punched the table, splitting it in half and immediately brought his hands together as a kick greeted him from behind it. He pushed him off and attempted to launch the fireball until the man in black threw a piece of wood at him. Based on the char it was likely a piece that came from the table. Instead of faltering, he sent the fireball with full force, creating an explosion between them.

The blast damaged both of them, though Tibaut took more of it than the man in black. However, his resistance to his own magic allowed him to shake it off far more easily than his opponent and he threw another punch into the dust cloud that had formed. But his hand touched only air and he was forced to back away after he felt a blade graze his arm.

(“Why is he so quick? And what the hell was up with that magic he used earlier? I feel like I'm going insane, it's not his feet moving but his entire body… fuck off is trying to get me to think he has Ezekiel’s magic. I swear when I get my hands on you!”) His magic obviously wasn't Ezekiel’s given the fact Tibaut hadn't been moved but this bastard seemed to be going out of his way to insinuate such a thing.

Tibaut had gotten sick of this. He was tired of trying to whittle one another down. So he started summoning an ever-growing fireball above his head. Which was quickly neutralised after the man in black threw a piece of wood at it.

“Come on kid, I'm not going down with you. Only lovers die together, thank you very much.” He stated as he crouched down, eyeing Tibaut. He seemed to be waiting for him to make another move. The blast between them had revealed even more of his face but he couldn't care less. In fact, he felt it fitting for such a man to die a faceless bastard.

“Your face.”

The man in black tensed up and got to his feet.

“I'll start with that. I wonder if you'll be able to keep fighting with most of your face cooked.”

He smirked before covering his gauntlets in flames.

“Hmm?” The man wondered as he looked. Tibaut could see the confusion on his face with about 30% of his mask now gone. Good. Be confused. Because when the next hit lands, that confusion will become understanding and then, more importantly, fear.

As the man in black watched he couldn't help but be a bit concerned with this choice of action.

“You do realise you'll end up burning yourself if you keep standing there, right?” He asked.

The seconds slowly ticked by and a minute soon passed.