Almeida's right hand moved unconsciously; he stood up and gently stroked the thick rope necklace. He stopped a few meters behind Sand King and hunched over, ready to strike again.
However, this time, Time slightly lifted his right leg, moved it forward, and just as he was about to take a step, his body vanished, only to finally reappear in front of the boy.
"You can't even speak properly. Have you lost every trace of humanity?" The entity raised his hand as if pointing to the center of the sky. "Did you know this world lost its sun a long time ago?" he asked, breaking into a smile.
The flames in the boy's eyes grew smaller. His bones creaked as he put pressure on them, and he leaned in even further. His focus was solely on one thing: the colorful clothes of the man in front of him.
He bit his lower lip, breathing raggedly. "I..." His vision blurred. With trembling bones and a dry ache in his throat, he tried to take a step forward.
Thud He fell to his knees on the ground. The flame in his eyes began to grow frailer. "Hmph, you reached your limit sooner than I thought, young Almeida. Now, you are on your own."
With that voice flashing in his mind, the flames dissipated. The black cloak he wore returned to its normal state.
Before him, the distorted image of the man standing a few meters away slowly lost its color. His skin was revealed; damage of all kinds covered every visible part of him, from scratches to burns.
His heart roared, pounding fiercely. "Colors..." he let out a barely audible murmur. His torso finally gave out, kept from hitting the ground only by his two hands planting themselves like columns.
But even so, Almeida moved forward. He didn't stand up—no, that was impossible. He didn't lift his head, which weighed a ton to him, nor did he even bother to look at his wounds; instead, he crawled.
He advanced as slowly as a turtle, moving his limbs in slow motion, trembling like a tent battered by the wind.
With only one image in his mind, with only one burning desire in his overwhelmed head, with only one intention in his whitish irises—the same image that had repeated itself from the moment he saw those colors on Sand King's clothes: "To make Time's clothes white, as perfectly immaculate as the first time he met him."
The man, on the other hand, put his hands behind his back, lowered his gaze, and watched the boy.
A long time passed. The man watched as the boy drew closer and closer. A small smile formed on his face, and the cold wind gently swayed his white hair while he enjoyed the world painted in yellowish-red.
Then, he leaned forward. "Gaahh!" He let out a yawn, cracked his neck, and sat cross-legged in front of the boy, who was less than half a meter away.
"You are... perhaps, the man with the greatest willpower I've seen in a long time." He closed his eyes, his smile widening as he reached out to pat the boy's hair. "That is the reason you cannot defeat me."
He shook his head, looked at the sun on the horizon, and watched a hut burning not far away before sighing. "I will offer you a deal, Almeida, because I like you. Ahem." He cleared his throat.
"Your necklace—give it to me, and my clothes will be white." He closed his eyes; his lightly outstretched hand continued patting the boy's hair, then moved down slowly, brushing his fingertips against the boy's ears, against his hot cheeks, until finally coming to rest on Almeida's chin.
He applied a little force, lifting that chin, and opened his eyes. However, this time, his eyeballs lacked pupils; they were completely white. "Do yourself a favor, and end this."
Almeida looked into those eyes. The trance-like state that had kept him moving forward shattered. He opened his mouth, widened his eyes, and stared into the universe-like immensity of Sand King's eyeballs.
"Y-you..." He began to tremble, breathing heavily as he shook his head like a rattle. "G-go away," he murmured, gritting his teeth with difficulty. "Get away!!!" he screamed, tearing his vocal cords, and raised his right hand to push Time's arm away.
He applied pressure. His body glowed green. He pushed with all the strength he could muster, squeezing and pressing his nails into that soft skin. But none of it worked. His nails dug into the skin, which yielded only slightly; Time's arm didn't move a single millimeter. He continued to gently stroke his chin.
Then he yanked his head back hard and snapped it forward fiercely, opening his wide mouth, and with bloodshot eyes, he bit down on the man's extended hand.
Crunch His teeth shattered. They sank into his gums, broke apart, and flew everywhere, but Time's extended hand remained right there, completely unharmed.
"Devil!!!" the boy exclaimed before biting down again. The same thing happened, and he repeated it—repeated it so many times that his bites became no more painful than those of a newborn baby.
Sand King looked down, watching the boy. He closed his eyes before letting out a sigh, his muted voice sounding once more. "Look at the state of you, son. Do yourself a favor, do me a favor, and accept the deal."
Time's hand tried to reach for Almeida's rope necklace, but it stopped just a few centimeters from touching it. His hand, his arm, everything froze right there. He clicked his tongue in displeasure upon noticing this.
Almeida quickly moved his right hand to stroke the rope necklace on his neck. Struggling to breathe, he stood up, stammered something hard to understand, and took a few steps back, looking down at the man sitting cross-legged with his hand outstretched.
The boy locked his gaze on those white, iris-less eyes. His legs struggled to retreat, tensing intensely, but his body refused; he stayed right there.
He clenched his right fist with force, with intensity, with rage, and raised it, ready to strike Sand King's face.
However.
The moment he raised his arm, when he saw the back of his right hand, his body went into shock.
His tense muscles loosened, his struggle to breathe turned into soft breaths, his eyes returned to their usual selves, and only a few words in red floated in front of him.
"Important"
"Alejandra"
"The strongest"
He blinked once, and his eyes showed more color; he blinked twice, and his irises returned to their usual black; he blinked three times, and opened his eyes so wide his eyeballs should have popped out of their sockets.
"Do... not... f...ight..." he barely murmured. He held out the palms of his hands to look at them, and then looked at Time, who returned his gaze with a slightly open mouth.
Sand King opened and closed his mouth a couple of times like a fish out of water. He looked at the boy's body, his condition, and finally looked at the ground covered in black ash. Then, a wide smile spread across his face as he clicked his tongue.
"So, you are definitely the man with the greatest willpower I've seen in a long time." Time shook his head slowly. "No. You're not even a man. Hahahahaha!!!" His laughter echoed dozens of meters away.
Almeida watched him laugh, but he didn't get angry. Instead, he analyzed every part of Time's body, blinked, and finally, calmed down completely.