She who shone the brilliant light wore a sly smile on her face.
Cades didn't know what was wrong, but he felt off, as if he was changing, as if he was not himself, if he ever had been, which he was not certain about anymore, he was afraid, not of others, not of death, be it that that was not a pleasant thought, he was scared of what was happening with himself, that's what he feared as he finally stood up once more, his mana and flesh, his stamina and health fully recovered, his bones still aching as they remembered all the battles he had already gone through in this accursed realm, this endlessly big hand that he still couldn't entirely comprehend of.
But it was there, he was vanishing, turning into someone else, his mind was not as sharp as before, his strategy not as conclusive and detailed as he had prided himself on for the short time he had truly been here, in this half-alive state, but he did suppose that it made sense in many ways.
This Cades had been born in the trash chute, barely a quarter year ago, if even that, he had barely experienced anything, and though he had a personality that he had inherited, it made sense that he would change since he was not Cades per se, if that made sense in any way.
Truly, something difficult to understand, but perhaps very conclusive and understandable to him because, well, it applied to him, to the him who had almost died twice over just now, though he had no idea how long he had been unconscious, to the him who had looked at those indescribable monsters, to the him who would now face the opponents chosen by that beast, that centipede he did not wish to ever look at again, the being wearing carcasses, the being who he knew he would be soon to be able to finally name.
Cades took a step as he was waiting, intending to look down from the endlessly tall pillar to figure out as to what extend he had been lifted into the air but before he could do so he heard a name, or rather a title, in his head, spoken in no voice but mumbling, as if the clicking and clattering of countless insects squirming worked together to create a sensible sentence he could actually understand and hear, a name, the name of the insect with the face that was now looking down on him, both the eyes already brightly glowing, one in a golden colour that he knew too well by now, and another in a radiant silver that reminded him of the moon, clashing with the grotesque visage of the beast that resembled his own to an eerie degree he did not wish to acknowledge.
It who hates sentience began to move, and though Cades once again found the name to be quite counterintuitive and stupid he refrained from thinking about this conundrum, and especially this beastly creature wearing something that now resembled his own face, so, he simply looked at his new opponents, standing far to the side, about a hundred feet away from each of them, closest to the tiny figure of the flying old man in the tuxedo who was the last one that would be left once he won this.
Cades looked at the opponent, but as he did so he felt his heart sink down further then even before, when he had been fighting against that invincible monster that had turned out to be quite vincible, just ridiculously sturdy to be sure.
There were two opponents, one man dressed in a silver mask depicting anguish and pain, wearing a silver cloth of the same colour, radiant and entrancing to be sure, and a woman, wearing the same golden cloth, just with some very light plate armor that didn't seem to actually protect anything, serving more as a kind of show, having been provided by this place and the summoner, wearing a mask full of anger and pain, similar to her counterpart, but a bit too different to be considered the same.
The man wielded a staff, wooden and fragile, one that Cades knew could be used as a medium to enhance ones magic, the woman on the other hand wielded a sword, a turnaround to the normal gender roles and something Cades found a bit funny for some reason, though that was most likely just a show of his anxiousness as the two people he would have to fight looked at each other and nodded as if they already had a plan, perhaps even communicating in some way Cades wasn't able to follow, something that would make the entire thing even worse.
His only real advantage was the mana sense which should allow him to keep track of where the two little creatures, and indeed, both of them were below average, about five feet tall each, both with silverish black hair coming out slightly from behind the cloaked masks, as if to show their character, were so he would not be surprised by them appearing out of nowhere and taking him down by attacking from both sides at one.
No, no, no, he would have to keep one of them on the offensive and one on the defensive, he would have to make sure he wouldn't get pressured against the walls or be held in place, he had to be fluid and take advantage of everything he had, especially the warp step if he wished to win this, he had to be everywhere and counter everything as long as he could, and most important of all, he should not be surprised by whatever they were going to do to make him fall out of his flow which he would hopefully be able to enter.
He had to think about this.
Cade barely had any time before they would realize and the battle would begin, so, he had to figure out who to attack first, a task that came to him quite easily as soon as he realized that magic tended to be far-range and take a bit longer than just stabbing someone with a sword, at least for the most part, resulting in him readying himself to warp behind the woman and surprise her, preferably killing her instantly.