The Abyss Mage released a quick succession of fireballs, each aimed at Sai, but hit nothing but slimes.
As for Sai, his improvised strategy seemed to have been working well, since he wasn't blown away or severely burnt so far.
On optimal conditions, Sai would be able to notice when his slime coverage started lacking on their protection. But right now, he spent all his efforts in simply keeping himself alive. There was no mental capacity for more.
And so, Sai was caught by surprise when the mage attacked him directly.
A blazing dark red demonic head appeared at the height of his face. Its golden eyes shone with anger and madness as it opened its mouth.
'Sh*t!!'
Sai didn't have time to stop his previous sprint, so he did the next best thing: duck and go under it.
*FOOOSH!*
Several strands of hair were burned, but he successfully dodged the attack. Using his right hand, Sai managed to not fall down and to keep moving ahead. However, what appeared in front of him was arguably worse.
Perhaps by a calculation error, the mage was now right in front of Sai. It turned its back to him as it danced at about three meters from him. Its peculiar laughter echoed in the hall amidst the sound of fire.
Sai only had time to confirm one thing…
'No shield!'
Unlike that first Cryo Abyss Mage and the two Hydro Abyss Mages he had faced previously, this one didn't show up with a shield. Sai didn't know if he was being underestimated or if the mage was only a newbie, but he was certain of that fact. Regardless, he would have to bet his life on it.
Sai aimed at it and reached the mage in under a second. It was enough for the creature to turn around and notice the attack. Its eyes widened, and his left hand instinctively reached for its mask. Sai rammed into its body like a train, sending them both to the ground.
But before they hit it, something weird happened. Sai felt dizzy again, his sight blurred, and he felt a much stronger impact than he should have felt. However, at the same time it felt soft, as if something cushioned his fall.
…
"Aeeh…"
A weird sound came from very near his right ear. Sai shook his head and opened his eyes with difficulty. The Archaic Petra mask had already fallen off somewhere before, but he still struggled to see anything. In front of him was… the floor. Not the battlefield floor, but a stone floor.
And in between them, stood a moaning Abyss Mage with a mullet.
Sai was stunned. Once again, his instincts screamed to move away. But this time, he had no more strength left. His body wouldn't move like he wanted to. He drew in his last breath and awaited death.
A few seconds later, a ragged breath reached his ears.
"Gaaasp… Gaaasp…"
The mage twitched, trying to find a way to breathe. Sai could feel the beating heart of the creature against his own.
'Why… is nothing happening?'
When he confirmed that several moments had passed, Sai opened his eyes again. The mage was staring straight at the sky, not noticing his presence at all. Luckily for Sai, it seemed that it had suffered some sort of concussion.
Sai raised his head a little more, and what he saw shocked him to the bone.
'T-The Petrified Tree!?!'
More accurately, what was in front of him was a yellow torch. The tree stood a few meters behind and to the left. Meaning, Sai and the mage were on the edge of the platform, outside of the domain battlefield.
Looking over the mage's head, Sai saw the empty expanse of the domain in all its splendor. That move seemed to have helped his enemy, for it managed to draw a good breath of air and say:
"Get- off!"
Its voice was scratchy, but demonstrated its intent to kill if Sai dared to refuse.
Almost as if by instinct, Sai spun off of the mage's body and onto the creature's right arm. That drew a pained moan and another complaint.
"Eeeek! My- arm!"
Sai once again rolled, stopping when he felt something firm touch his back. But he paid it no heed for now.
Both of them laid there, resting and slowly regaining their breath.
Some time later, a dreadful thought took over Sai's mind.
'It isn't over yet! The mage can still kill me! I have to kill him first!' At that moment, he had no thoughts regarding the wrongness of ending a life.
He opened his eyes on time to see the creature glaring at him. It was clearly utterly angry. And standing up!
Sai stood up as soon as his legs permitted. It was just him and the mage, face to face, near the edge of a bottomless abyss and a dried magical tree that conceived artifacts.
For a moment, none of them moved. The abyss mage frantically looked around for something, finally widening his eyes at Sai's feet.
'What is he looking at? Huh? This is… the scepter! HIS scepter!'
The mage looked up to his eyes, and back at the staff.
"Hahah! You want this?" Sai quickly bent down and grabbed the object.
It was about a meter long, composed of wood and some sort of glowing yellow material. That same material composed a spiked sphere on top of it. It weighed much more than a simple wooden stick, though it proved not hard to lift.
"Hahahah!"
The mage warily looked at Sai waving the scepter around like a child.
"How the turn tables! Okay. Fireball!!!" He pointed it at the mage and yelled.
The creature stepped back, almost falling off the edge, but nothing happened.
…
Sai grimaced and tried waving it again. The mage flinched.
"Hooomph! Shoot! Blast!! Fire!"
…
Nothing.
"Haah. Damnation."
The abyss mage didn't wait anymore. It threw itself at Sai, attempting to grab its staff. The two bodies hit the ground once more.
It was like a child trying to reach for a candy. But it was a very strong child for its size. It weighed considerably more as well. In fact, the two beings were evenly matched in strength and weight.
Luckily for Sai, his reach was longer, so he managed to keep the staff away for now. But if he didn't do something, it was only a matter of time.
Therefore, Sai threw the staff towards the petrified tree before the mage could react. Uncaring of its destiny, Sai grabbed onto the creature with all the strength left in him and rolled towards the edge. But the creature had completely lost itself in wraith, it wouldn't let the miserable human gain even a centimeter of ground.
And so they reached a stalemate. Sai tried to push the mage off the edge, and the mage pushed him back.
It was unclear who would eventually succeed. But that's when having a fully- actually, half-functioning brain was an advantage.
Sai conserved strength and let the mage push. When he felt it tire slightly, he would explode with all his might in a single motion. It worked fine against the non-stopping mage. He slowly gained territory, inching closer and closer to the edge. But there was a problem.
How would he push the mage off without falling himself?
Before Sai could think of an answer, the mage suddenly released its hold on him and grabbed his left wrist.
Sai writhed in pain, but the mage wasn't done. It reached over a tree root with its other hand and pulled with all its strength.
With both of them pushing to the same direction, anyone could guess what would happen.
Sai fell towards the bottomless sky, desperately holding onto the suicidal mage.
"Shhhhiii-!"