Standing there in his vampiric shroud, Albus stood opposite of the mercenary helping Barakiel to safety, facing him with his sword drawn as he got in a position to strike.
"S-Shit... Henry... I need you Henry!" The mercenary calls out to the other, slowly stepping backwards while still supporting Barakiel.
Henry, the mercenary who was ready to take Cassiel's life, stops and turns, to see Albus radiate an extremely murderous aura.
"Jerrold, run away with Barakiel, I'll catch up to you after I deal with this parasite, remember, the boss comes first." Henry says, stepping out in front of the other mercenary helping Barakiel.
As he flicks his claws out, drawing them as they shimmer under the misted sky of Bagnion, he gets in a stance to pounce towards Albus at any moment.
While Jerrold, the other mercenary, escapes with Barakiel, Albus stands with his sword drawn, still without making a single move towards Henry.
"I'm sorry I'm late... my king." Albus says, finally breaking the silence as he darts toward Henry.
Meeting him in the middle to ruin his momentum, Henry pounces straight towards Albus at the same time, reaching his claws out to slash him.
Albus however, fresh from fighting the thralls from just hours before, sidesteps smoothly and cuts Henry's left hand clean off his arm, making it gush with blood.
Henry doesn't flinch or cry out. He pivots instantly and slashes, cutting into Albus' side, leaving a deep wound on his waist.
As the two dash backwards, they quickly tend to their wounds, Albus cutting off his shirt sleeve to use as a bandage, and Henry pulling an actual bandage out to stop the bleeding on his hand.
Meeting each other eye to eye, Albus swipes his sword to the side, flicking the blood off his sword as he walks towards Henry.
Henry, wiping his two bladed claw off, stands up from being knelt down, to walk towards Albus, before picking up the pace as he fully charges Albus.
Albus picks up his pace also, only for the two of them to dash towards each other once more, this time clashing blades as they meet in the middle.
With neither of them making any noise nor changing facial expressions, Albus punches Henry in the gut as Henry counters by kicking Albus in the same spot he had been slashed in.
As blood trickles down Albus' mouth, he reaches over and grabs Henry by his arm, flipping him over as he goes to stab him straight through the chest.
Just before puncturing through however, his blade is deflected by a steel ball, making him instead cut Henry's eye out, which finally makes him yell out in pain.
As Albus looks up, he sees the mercenary from before, Jerrold, standing a couple meters away.
Cassiel, still laying down unable to move, watches as all of this goes down.
He watches as Albus is ready to lay his life down for him.
Albus, backing up as Henry gets off the ground to dash backwards next to Jerrold, grabs out another bandage to patch his eye up.
"Jerrold, please buy me two minutes." Henry says, completely focused on his eye.
"You think too little of me, I'll kill this bastard." Jerrold says, throwing three steel balls straight towards Albus while dashing straight towards him.
Albus deflects and parries the first two, but the third ball drives itself straight into his chest, making him fall back a bit before finally noticing Jerrold right in front of him.
Just a foot away from Albus, Jerrold lands a kick straight into his chest, the exact same spot his ball had just hit him moments before, causing Albus to fly back and onto the ground.
As Albus goes to stand up, another ball hits him straight in his wrist, making him drop his sword just when Jerrold appears before him once more, aiming to land a kick straight to the side of Albus' head.
Moments before the kick lands, Albus puts his arm up to block the attack, to then wrap his arm around Jerrold's leg like a snake, pulling him towards himself, making Jerrold fall off balance as Albus kicks his other leg, causing him to fall completely face first into the ground.
As if he really was a snake, Albus quickly crawls over to get on top of Jerrold, constricting his legs with his own as he puts his arm around his neck, aiming to choke him out.
While Albus continues to choke him, Jerrold thrashes about, twisting and turning, spinning and doing all in his current power to get Albus off of him, but to no avail.
Just before Jerrold is finally unconscious and choked to death, Albus starts to get stomped on as Henry is finally back, trying to get Albus off of Jerrold.
With Albus not losing his grip, Henry flicks his claws out once more, stabbing straight towards Albus' side, only for Albus to turn around with Jerrold, making Henry stab Jerrold instead of him.
"D-Damn you bastard..." Henry says, taking his blade out of Jerrold and releasing him of his life.
"You'll pay for that..." Henry says once more, dashing back a couple feet as Albus quickly gets up.
Albus' face turns dark with anger.
"Me? Pay for what? Taking revenge for my people...?" Albus says, dropping his sword as he's no longer able to wield it from the wound Jerrold gave him moments before.
Dashing straight towards Henry, Albus takes him by surprise, catching him off guard as Henry forgets to put his guard up, leaving himself open and giving Albus the perfect opportunity as he jabs him in the nose to then connect it with a cross hook.
After taking the brunt of both impacts, Henry takes a step back before punching Albus in the sternum with his nubbed arm, causing himself to bite his lips in pain and leaving Albus out of breath.
Trying his best to not give Albus any more chances, Henry slashes at him, only grazing him but still leaving a shallow cut on his stomach as Albus dodges backwards at the last second.
The two stare each other down, both worn down and dripping with their own blood, the only sound is their ragged breathing, both trying their best to stay afloat and come out on top of what will be their final confrontation with each other.
Then, silently, as if to mock their entire battle, Henry's head tumbles from his shoulders and his body collapses.
Behind him stood Cassiel, back on his feet.
The paralysis had finally worn off.
"Albus... you're a true warrior, be my hand." Cassiel says, offering his first genuine, directed smile towards Albus.