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Big battles were one thing. Battles between multitudes of people, all able to tag out and rest in order to continue fighting later. But single combat? How monstrous did such warriors have to be in order to continue on for such extended periods of time, alone?

But perhaps that was debatable here, too. Were these two truly alone? Vanderberk had his army of hellspawn, and the stranger, his countering army of crystal beasts.

Honestly, though, there were probably aspects to this fight that he wasn't even perceiving. It did seem odd that the stranger wasn't even showing himself, instead seeming to rely totally on his crystal minions. Some of the light beams did chase or strike Vanderberk, but they didn't appear to do much to him, other than leave smoking trail behind.

Given everything else Raul had already seen, he had to imagine that the stranger was capable of yet more than this. Vanderberk, too, probably. So what were they waiting for? Some sort of opening to land a more decisive blow? Or maybe this was a battle of attrition? A competition of resources and endurance?

Whatever the case, as he continued to watch the fight draw out in this dark place, Raul Blackburn began to wonder if he was even in the real world, anymore.

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<"So all is well, then?"> said the voice on the phone.

It felt a little weird to be hearing it with his ears this time, and it didn't quite match with the soundless one that he'd grown more familiar with before, but Hector supposed that was only natural.

In order to contact him, Xander had given him a phone number, four digit code, and also a pass phrase. The first voice on the phone had asked for the code, the second had asked for the phrase, and now, finally, he was apparently speaking with the man himself.

Hector had decided to use a burner phone for this call, just in case, though he didn't really think it would make much difference. If Xander wanted to find him, he probably wouldn't have a hard time doing so.

"I don't know about 'all' being well," said Hector, "but yeah, Banda Toro was neutralized."

<"That is quite good news, as I was unable to procure any aid for you.">

"Oh." Welp. He supposed that was one less thing to worry about, at least. Though, it did feel kinda worrisome in a different way. "You're that short on manpower, huh?"