Ash passed by my side and went straight to the point where the second would appear. He carries what he always does: his weapons, his coat and, from what I saw, a strange pocket watch. But if anyone had something to boast about, that would be me. Ash assigned me a TDI Vector in its 5.56 mm assault rifle variant. He told me that, with my power, I will be able to exploit the potential of this weapon to the fullest. In addition, Agnar gave me a custom-made combat suit; it would protect me from great magical attacks and, if it were to become necessary, from enchanted weapons. Although the suit is more to protect me from Ash than from the second, since no matter what I do, apparently he can cut through anything.

  And speaking of cutting, I have decided to use a tomahawk, since I have never been good at fencing, but I have done better using short long-handled weapons and close hand-to-hand combat.

  —Well, there are only ten minutes left. I am anxious, it has been quite a while since I fought to the death. Well, remember: you will go first, shout some things at him, tell him how ugly his mask is or insult his mother. That always works for me.

  —I would rather die a hundred times than lower myself to your level —I replied.

  —Well, let me know when number one hundred arrives. When I give you the signal, just step aside, I will step in to finish the job.

  —I hope you do. The truth is, I do not want any of my friends to die, so…

  —What? What is it?

  I was completely surprised and frightened. Just behind Ash, about twenty meters away, standing like a beast marking his territory, the sunlight was refracted on his lustrous blades. What seemed to be his poncho was caressed by the wind, and there he was: the Second. What draws my attention the most is his white mask, from whose edges feathers were hanging, which had a red mark, like a line painted on its left side.

  Ash turns around and sees the target somewhat confused, and mentions:

  —How strange, he has arrived a little early. For time to be his specialty, your grandfather must have been very bad at telling the time…

  Ash and I prepare our weapons and stand on guard.

  The Butcher, without moving a finger, only observes us. I am just waiting for Ash’s signal to attack, but I see that he relaxes a little and lowers his weapons and then speaks:

  —Hello, you are surely confused right now, aren’t you? What must be going through your mind would be: “Where the hell is the white-haired idiot I was fighting?” Yes, I know, I went through the same thing. By the way, I’m Ash. What is your name?

  There was no response. The subject only reacted by tilting his head to one side, like an animal trying to understand something new. Ash brings his hand to his chin to express a situation of doubt, and says to me:

  —Could it be that he doesn’t speak Mongolian or is he really a special case? Well, in any case…

  He approaches me and, giving me a shove with a pat on the back, shouts to the guy:

  —Whatever the case may be, look! It’s the guy from before, settle your matters.

  It took me by surprise, and when I turned my attention back to the second, he was already running at full speed, and by the time I aimed and was about to fire, my head had already been separated from my body.

  Returning to the moment before my death, I quickly crouch and manage to extend my life a few seconds more, running around him and placing myself behind him. But when I was about to shoot him in the back, I see how my vision begins to split, which I immediately realize means that he cut me in half.

  Once again, returning to the moment of my death, this time I decide to take distance from my adversary, but without giving me time to use my weapon, he follows me closely, which forces me to switch to my axe. So, taking a step forward, I attack with an overhead cut. Then I see my arm being thrown behind him, and I see myself falling to the ground to observe the rest of my body, which was cut diagonally.

  Third respawn. It is obvious that I cannot defeat him in close combat, and he will not let me take distance from him either. And despite everything, I have not gathered much information, so I will have to resort to desperate measures.

  —HEY, BASTARD! HELP ME! —I shouted at Ash, while he sat on a rock looking at his cellphone.

  —Already? Not even two minutes have passed.

  I run for my life while the second does not stop killing me, I think he has already cut me up like a pizza.

  —Oh, well, at least tell me if you have found out anything —Ash said lazily.

  —It has already been more than ten times, and the only thing I know is that he is tremendously fast at cutting, the truth is I have not been able to face him.

  Up to now I have managed to survive thanks to my acceleration spells, with them I can move faster, and I have also avoided a few deaths, I am already sweating, it is hard for me to catch my breath and my muscles feel reversed, but seeing the madman calmly using his cellphone makes me want to ally with the second and go after him.

  —Well, from what I have seen, it seems that he does not even take you seriously, you just look like a rat running from a cat.

  —YES! A little help, right?!

  —All right, all right, do not get angry. By the way, are you angry?

  —YEEES! —I tell him while avoiding another cut.

  Ash aims with his shotgun and shouts at me —Move!— He fires a great wave of fire, I barely manage to step aside, and by the time the fire dissipates the Second does not appear —Where did he go?— I exclaim.

  —Mmm, I see, it is the supposed teleportation ability —Ash mentions— But where did he go?— After saying that, emerging from nowhere, aiming at Ash’s neck, the Butcher appears. Ash dodges him naturally by taking a step backward, then he takes a breath and blows an enormous breath of fire over the Second; nevertheless, the situation turns out as before, and the second disappears. Ash and I move our heads from side to side, looking for where he will appear, only to then see two bloodstained arms emerging from my chest, immediately I feel an unbearable pain, and I am lifted into the air to feel how they tear my body into two parts.

  Once again I have died. I quickly jump and perform a forward roll, then look behind me, where the Second was. For the moment he has not attacked and has only remained staring at me. Ash comes to my side and mentions —It seems that he is about to start taking things seriously, you know I think I already understand what is happening, this guy reeks of a very singular magic.

  —What do you mean? And why doesn’t he attack? —I asked in fear.

  —He is analyzing us, and above all you. He must have already realized that I will not be an easy rival, but with you he must be confused. Believe me, the same thing happened to me when I tried to kill you in the bar —Ash said very calmly.

  —Do you think he will figure it out?

  —I would say there is a fifty… no, sixty percent chance that he does.

  —How did you reach that conclusion?

  —I will explain it to you later, but it would be better if we kill him quickly, since if he discovers it he will escape.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  —Wait for it —Ash tells me. Subsequently, the second seems to cut the air and, taking a step forward, vanishes into the air.

  —Did you see that? He does not teleport, he can cut space. He does not have abilities, he is a mage whose magic allows him to manipulate space, it is similar to you…

  The second appears from above and tries to drive his blades into Ash. He evades his weapons and places his hand on the Second’s chest, then Ash electrocutes him so intensely that the place begins to light up and the lightning that emanates from the Second’s body makes his limbs shake, but with great effort he manages to kick Ash and separate from him, then disappear into nothingness again.

  —Oh, what bad luck, I did not expect him to be able to react to that, this guy is very tough.

  —I do not think he will risk it again. What do we do?

  —You will have to be the bait.

  By the time we had recovered, the Second appeared again in front of us, about twenty meters away. He looked at us, giving each of us a moment of observation, and then, as if he were going to throw a spear, he made a motion in the air. Ash had already jumped. By the time I realized it, I felt blood running from my stomach. Once again, he had cut me in half. Fallen on the ground, with half of my body bleeding out, I see Ash approach me and, without hesitation, he shoots me in the head.

  Returning to the beginning, this time I decide to crouch. Ash’s action has not changed; after jumping, he remains in the air flying, and shouts at me:

  —Now he is taking it seriously.

  —He just cut me in two from that distance. How did he do it?

  —It is simple: he can manipulate space, so I do not think it is impossible for him to attack at a distance. Another thing that worries me is how he moves between dimensions… I do not know if he knows where to go or if he just calculates the path.

  While we continue evading his attacks, I ask him:

  —What is that about moving between dimensions?

  —That thing he does of cutting the air must be a rift in space, and he crosses it. That is how he passes to another dimension, and in that way we cannot do anything to him; we cannot even know where he will appear.

  Having died once again for misjudging one of his attacks, I manage to dodge him successfully by stepping back and move away a little. I ask Ash:

  —How are we supposed to defeat him? He is resilient, he can evade us easily and, besides attacking us at a distance, we cannot defend ourselves from his cuts.

  —Do not be alarmed. He is a mage, his mana will run out sooner or later. In the worst case we will have to wait for that. But I feel that, if it were to reach that situation, he would escape easily. So we will have to take a risk, by getting closer and engaging in close combat.

  —I will try to shoot him.

  Immediately, I ready my weapon and aim while dodging his cuts. In burst mode, I fire three rounds. The Second makes a motion in front of him and the bullets disappear.

  —Oh, there it is. He can use the rifts as a shield.

  —Damn! How do we fight against that?

  —Those claws are not enchanted weapons, they are magic wands. Otherwise, he would have been able to cut me with the kick.

  I observe his weapons, and I notice that he is right. Everything he has done with his power has been using his claws. But I am still worried about the situation of that dimension. If it is so practical, why has he not escaped? And, as Ash said, can he see what happens in reality? If I am not mistaken, I think I have died a couple of times from surprise attacks from that dimension.

  —No matter how it is, it is a pain in the ass to deal with this guy.

  —I have thought of something: go, get close to him, force him into close combat. It is not necessary for you to attack him, just stay alive.

  I do not like the idea of having to die again and again, but I already want to finish this, so I will do as he says.

  The problem arises in how to keep up with him if he escapes through another dimension. But Ash would take care of thinking about that. I began to run toward the Second while firing my weapon. In my charge toward my target, he had already killed me two more times, although thanks to his repeated attacks I was already learning to keep up with him and it was becoming easier for me to read his movements.

  Soon I managed to reach a sufficient distance and, switching to my axe, I began to pressure him in close combat. Of course, in a fight with weapons it is natural for swords or whatever is used to clash against each other and, at times, to take a moment to struggle and achieve an opening. However, this situation is very different. Seeing how he can block my attacks with his bracers, which he concealed under his large poncho, the only thing I could do was dodge in any way possible. Although if I failed, I would only die and try again until I managed to do it. Jumping and crouching, I managed to evade those attacks that would leave me with one arm or one leg less.

  And after being so patient, the reward of dodging bore fruit. In a moment of carelessness, the Second tried to cut me with a surprise attack. After launching his strike, he attempted to rewind his motion, returning it to the position from which he had launched it. It worked, but only after he had sliced my neck. I managed to dodge his attack by crouching and tackling him. I managed to throw him to the ground and, sitting on top of him, I did not give him time to think and drove my axe into his head. His mask fractures.

  From that crack a faint stream of blood emerges, but it is distinguished by a very dark color, which would even seem black.

  The blow was nothing more than the one that broke his mask, and I had only been able to give him a scratch, so I raised my axe again to finish the job. An instant before delivering the final strike, my adversary lifts his torso and presses himself against me. He hugs me tightly and, pushing with one foot, manages to flip me over, ending with the position reversed. Without waiting, he raises his arm ready to divide my body in two. However, Ash arrives from behind him and, with a chokehold, restrains him. With the enemy under his control, he removes him from on top of me and then throws himself to the ground with him. At once, he proceeds to release all the electrical charge he possesses.

  That scene was nothing more than a brilliantly intense blue light, completely unrestrained. I could not even distinguish what was happening behind those bolts. When it ended, Ash, still on the ground and with the Second’s body blackened and smoking, lets him go as if he were dropping a bag of meat. Then he stands up and exclaims:

  —Ufff, honestly I had not expected such a good opportunity. I must say you showed off with that takedown.

  —Yes, I know, even I am surprised.

  Team number one was at a safe distance watching us, so, with all the glory I could feel, I turned in their direction and waved at them. Ash, looking at me, said:

  —Wow, you do have pride after all. Well, we just have to wait for the transport to arrive —he turns around— and… hey, could it be that you moved the corpse?

  My mind was completely overtaken by confusion upon hearing that question. I turned at superhuman speed, and where the burned body of the Second had been there was nothing.

  —This is a joke, right? Tell me “yes,” please.

  —Well, if you want the truth, I will confess it: I could have done the job if I had been alone, but I wanted to have a little fun, so I brought you along. But now, as a result, ironically I do feel that my life is in danger.

  I think I never would have expected to hear that phrase come out of the madman’s mouth, with an expression of “we’re screwed.” So, as a chain reaction, I also ended up scared out of my mind.

  Without delaying any longer, we immediately went on guard. We looked in every direction to watch where he would come from. In the end nothing had happened, and just as we were beginning to lower our weapons, the Second emerged in front of us. With all his black clothing burned, it was falling apart with every touch of the wind. Apparently, his body was covered in bandages, which shared the appearance of his poncho.

  But what completely caught my attention was his mask: the crack I had made had evolved into a fracture, which ended up becoming a piece breaking off from it. And there, revealed, I could see the front part of his left eye, which was completely black. His skin stood out with an unpleasant red, as if I were seeing the flesh hidden beneath the skin. But the most terrifying thing was what I felt as a gaze of the most unrestrained and pure hatred: that silent resentment that echoes in people’s nightmares.

  I looked at Ash, and with a single glance I understood: this was no longer a game for him. It had turned into live or die.

  Next, the Second let out a powerful scream, so full of fury, uncontrolled, and that felt as if it came from the soul. He hurled himself toward us, swinging his arms without control. An enormous blade, similar to that of a blender, came toward us, cutting and shaking the terrain. It would easily turn us into pulp and no one would be able to distinguish our corpses from each other.

  But whatever the situation, it would never reach that point.

  Without hesitation and trusting in my previous experience, I hurled myself toward him. I had already accumulated about five deaths before passing the first meter of the barrier of cuts that he was generating. It was no different from the first time, but his speed had increased incredibly. However, with several more deaths and a solid patience that I had practiced these last days, having learned the pattern of his attacks and evading each one, I managed to reach the front of him.

  And without giving him the opportunity, with my axe I accelerated with my magic the powerful strike I launched at him and managed to cleanly cut off his right arm, ending up behind his back. Paralyzed by the surprise of a successful hit, the Second turned toward me. And at the moment he was about to cut me in two, a blue flash ran across his shoulder and then his last arm detached from his body.

  An instant after having launched the attack that never came, the Second turned his head to his left and realized that he had been left disarmed. He looked back and there stood Ash. The moment he had him face to face, with his right arm he launched a powerful punch charged with electrical energy that he drove into his chest. After a second, he tore out his heart. The opponent fell dryly to the ground, and Ash aimed his shotgun at the defeated enemy and exclaimed:

  —It was fun, but everything comes to an end.

  Next, I quickly moved aside, and he fired a rapid burst of a solid attack of fire. Sounding as if a naval cannon had been fired, its echo resonated through the mountains.

  All that remained after the smoke and dust faded was nothing more than the lower half of the Second.

  Falling completely exhausted to the ground and recovering my breath, I commented:

  —Ufff… well, there goes the first one.