Leyk was about to release his mana into the air, controlling this place, but something in the back of his mind hindered him, something violent and wild, something chaotic yet calm and serene, and that change in his expression, a small collapse, a feeling as if he had bee punched int he stomach, was even noticed by the so-called lord Vexxen who seemed to already be bracing themselves for the next attack, expecting an attack that was bound to overthrow all he had experienced before hand, an attack Leyk longed to send, but was unable to control or send right now, as if something in the back of his mind was screaming that it was the wrong choice for this fight, a small glint of a part of him that was crawling out from beneath, the light of dominion beginning to take form and lead, and a part of him that knew that if this was really Vexxen, that they should not show them such a technique, that they should not teach an opponent they could not be killed by and were bound to meet anew what they could to, what one of their strongest powers entailed just like that.
More so, Cades who was now taking a hold in reality once more, starting to lead his decisions, didn't seem to be inclined to ward of their own death, more so deciding that their death would be a good choice to end this battle, as he felt his body awakening to a warp, something that would bring himself closer to an opponent that was supposedly better at close-range and was only keeping him at a distance to study him, giving him the advantage of starting the battle but the disadvantage of being expected, the advantage of having greater range, but the disadvantage of being slower in such a close fight, everything he had as an advantage was countered as a disadvantage by the man in front of him, and yet, Cades knew that fighting him like that would be the most effective way to end this battle quickly, and enhance themselves, perhaps learning something they hadn't learnt before, like aura, something that had been stagnant since before they had entered this place, something that the man most likely knew to use, those were Cades thoughts, calm, serene, collected, purely logical, and Leyk knew he was right.
Within an instant he was in front of Vexxen, as it had always been the case with the warping active, though this instant seemed to be more so akin to an eternity if one were to ask Leyk who had now taken a single seat atop a two-seated bicycle as he was being forced to engage in a fight he knew he was bound to lose, the advantage of the light of dominion he had been hoping for completely turning the situation around, that being in the bad direction that he didn't want to enter, towards his death, choosing to sacrifice Leyk to keep the secrets and learn more instead of just waiting for all of their skills, actives, techniques, habits, weaknesses, to be discovered as it was going right now.
Leyk's blade, glinting in a non-existent sun, struck down from above, racing to spread the body of the man in half, the man stepped aside, Leyk's blade swung in a elegant ribbon-like way and struck at the stomach of the man in front of him that had seemingly already put his blade away, not even caring that someone, even if that someone seemed to be akin to a child, was waving a deadly tool of spreading butter in front of him.
It was actually funny thinking about it from the outside, after all, both of their velocity and skill had far surpassed the norm, both of them being able to move fast enough to break the barrier of sound itself if they had enough runway and time, as well as mana, both of them powerful enough to lift multiple tons and punch even more if they longed to and were able to gain the needed surface area, and yet, this battle seemed to be so normal, even though just the wind from the attacks could knock normal people, or even beginners in the range of sequences, far away and cause them to be severely hurt.
Uncaring of that, however, Vexxen took a step back as the horizontal slash of Leyk was cutting right where his belly had been, just a few seconds prior, not caring about that fact, not caring how close it had been, not caring about the wind of the blade that would've perhaps even been enough to kill a weaker person without any ability of using mana, not caring that the two were powerful enough to fight entire armies and still just fighting like this atop a giant pedestal, simply evading as a normal person would do, though a normal person surely wouldn't have gotten rid of their blade and exchanged it for a small blade, barely a few inches long that they now held in their right hand.
This was repeated and repeated, not just once or twice, not just dozens, or multiple dozens, but for what felt like hundreds of times, it was humiliating, and yet exhilarating to see how easily it was blocked, how easily all his effort was turned into nothing, into something worth nothing, something completely meaningless without matter, something for which they only used mana sporadically to enhance their own body, thought they had probably covered hundreds of feet now, just by walking backwards, slowly meeting the end that seemed to sometimes be there and sometimes be missing, truly, a place without reason, a place only led by insanity and sporadic chance.
It was elegant like a dance, at least on the side of Vexxen who was playing with Leyk as if he was back on ehetria where he had once played with his sister by attacking her in slow-motion using a stick he had found outside, something she had loved, something he now remembered at this never-ending dance, at least until something changed, until Vexxen broke the dance.
Stopping the melodic dance, Vexxen griped Leyk's right hand, the hand placed atop his left one when holding the blade, the hand he had been using to lead the battle, and he was unable to move it, being close, face to face with the expressionless, mirrored mask, only seeing the face of himself.
Once more, even more so now than before, he felt as if he was truly, utterly, f#cked, though by now that had become laughingly clear and quite humiliating to admit to himself over and over again.