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The trouble was that this place had become so damn confusing. He sprinted across the surface of the river, but it felt like he wasn't getting anywhere. With the sky so dark, it was hard to tell where the river even ended. Plus, the hellspawn and crystal angels flying all over the place weren't helping him understand the situation any better.

A beam of light hit him, blinding him for several seconds and bringing him to a standstill. His legs sunk below the river's surface as his concentration faltered, but he caught himself with his arms and climbed back out.

He didn't get it. The light dissipated, and he felt fine. No change. He'd seen the way it transformed those demon things, but it apparently had no effect on him? Maybe it hadn't been intended to and had only struck him accidentally.

Ugh.

He felt so weird in this place. Sluggish. Heavy. And it was like... the space around him was distorted. Maybe that was the way the river never seemed to end.

He didn't know where to go.

But if he couldn't escape, then maybe observing the fight more closely was the smarter option. Contributing was probably still impossible, but he wouldn't know that for sure if he didn't pay attention.

It wasn't hard to tell where Vanderberk was, at least. The hellspawn were getting obliterated by the crystal beasts, and Vanderberk was the only thing countering them, punching through them like a man-sized cannonball or otherwise turning them to dust whenever they got close to him.

But they just kept coming. Hellspawn kept being born from seemingly nowhere, just appearing out of the thin, dark air. And rays of light kept converting them.

For a while, Raul was able to just stand there, watching it unfold. This spot down here on the river might've been a bit safer than he realized.

What an odd fight. It seemed a stalemate to him, at the moment. Neither side gaining any real ground.

How long could this go on for, he wondered?

The more he thought about it, the more he remembered various tales he'd heard of historic clashes between great warriors. In many of them, fights lasted days.

Having been in some pretty intense scuffles as a kid, he'd always thought those claims were exaggerated in order to sound more mythical or legendary.

But observing this fight here and now, he was starting to see how that kind of thing might happen.