Fae vanished from his side.
The distant sound of metal hitting and deflecting something echoed in the back of his mind.
A woman screamed, while others yelled in the distance.
Eyes, like a trail of dust, opened on Alexander's body, covering his cloak and hat.
In an instant, those eyes opened, their erratic gaze looking around in a frenzy.
Everyone was in a panic, cars trying to leave while civilians promptly left the area.
One, two, three… Four dungeon runners attacking us?
One of them hid behind the corner of the street, the tip of their bow showing. He could see it through a narrow path in-between cars and signalization.
Another archer was behind a car that was parked further away, on the opposite side of the street, their back against the door while they kept glancing his way.
Meanwhile, what looked like a fighter and tank archetypes approached toward them on the sidewalk, swords out.
An arrow flew toward them, Fae easily deflecting it before glancing at Alexander.
"Don't kill them," said Alexander.
She nodded, then ran toward the two swordsman.
Alexander, immobile, waited for the archers to pop out once more.
The one behind the corner peeked out, pulling the bowstring back while focusing on his target.
The moment the eyes in his back connected with the man behind the corner, it was too late.
[ The Gift ].
The man let go of his arrow, which lodged itself into an unlucky passerby's leg.
He then screamed and clawed at his face as if trying to unsee something.
Fae fought the two swordsman, her gracious flow of hits easily deflecting their strikes.
In a quick succession of elegant moves, she cleanly cut their legs above the knee, making them fall down.
She then circled around them, and hit their arms in several places.
The shallow cuts had them drop their weapons, screamed in pain.
Only one archer remained.
Alexander's eyes then frantically looked up, noticing movements from above.
He fixed one eye on Fae and shared his sight once more.
Fire showered from the sky.
Her movements were elegant. She advanced while swaying left and right, dodging the volley of fire that rained down on her.
Alexander's eyes found the mage responsible for it, on the roof of a building that was about a street away.
He saw robe flowing with the wind, and his staff raised in the sky with a dark-red glow around it.
His mouth moved, sound didn't make it his way but he could tell he was casting something.
He's too far...
Alexander was turning his back on all of them, but where he faced mattered little with the sight acquired from the Will Breaker.
He raised his hand, concentrated.
[ Reach Beyond ].
The tentacle appeared near the mage, violently smashing against his body.
The mage was propelled backward, further onto the building's roof.
Fae, who had taken care of the remaining archer in one sweep, turned back toward the Adventurer's Guild building, where more people came out of, in armor.
Alexander frowned.
So, we're to be attacked on sight. Like a dungeon event that requires to be dealt with.
He glanced at Fae, who glanced back.
Running away would prove difficult, she might have been able to, but he didn't have the physical strength to outrun anyone.
The man who seemed to lead the new group looked a lot stronger than those before him.
His armor was massive, while he held a slim two-handed sword in his hands.
Behind him was someone who used a staff, holding it up against the swordsman back.
Not a mage. A support.
He pushed against the ground, in one burst he left the place he was standing.
The next moment, he was right in Fae's reach.
She blocked his strike with both sickles.
The air displaced was visible as the strike connected.
She was violently pushed back, propelled against a car behind her. The impact crumpled the door and sent the car sliding back several feet.
The man pushed forward once more.
A blessing, thought Alexander. His sight was pristine. No cracks, no fragments, no pain.
Choosing commander over power had barely any effect so far, if it wasn't for his sight holding strong and steady.
He saw the world in a way that nobody else could, its every details and every breath noticed.
The swordsman's movements were easy to see, but still too quick for them to react to.
Not a problem, thought Alexander.
In an instant, he traded places with Fae.
He appeared right before the man's eyes.
The swordsman instantly stumbled to his knees. Alexander could see the support in the distance, casting spells to help his ally who had one knee to the ground.
"What the fuck?! Fucking cultists…" said the man.
He held onto his head, as if it were about to explode.
"What curse is this?!" said the man, slowly falling to the ground.
"Not a curse, a gift."
All the eyes covering Alexander's outfit looked up, a golden flash appeared across the sky.
It looked like a ray came down and hit right next to the man on the ground.
Where the ray connected appeared a rotating magical circle made of golden floating lines.
In an instant, above the circle appeared a trail of golden dust.
The trail then ignited, it looked like a series of mini-explosions of golden lightning.
At the end of it, it dispersed into the air, slightly obscuring the view as something appeared where the dust was.
A man with golden hair.
Alexander's perfect sight barely had time to make anything of that new encounter.
The ground was robbed from his feet. A sudden gust of wind ran through his clothes as he found himself in a free fall.
The street, the cars, the high-rises, it all disappeared.
He was among the clouds, the buildings looked small from where he was.
He could see the street where he stood moments ago, and the roof where the mage previously was.
The only thing he could hear was the heavy wind and his clothes flapping. He had to hold onto his hat with his hands to make sure not to lose it on the way down.
Panic would've normally filled his mind, but amazement was what hit him first, his multiples eyes gazing at the rapidly approaching landscape.